Shares of gold companies rose after the price of the yellow metal rose to a near-record high of $2,441 an ounce. Bellevue Gold rose 7.5 percent.
The backward ones
Among the losers, Audinate Group shares fell 5.9%, Cochlear fell 3.2% and Strike Energy lost 2.3%.
Healthcare was the worst performing sector, finishing 0.9 percent lower.
The descent
Star Entertainment and its soaring share price have been in the headlines all day amid industry speculation about the future of the casino business.
One of the interested parties is Hard Rock Hotels and Casinos, which owns The Mirage in Las Vegas, which generates more than $430 million ($642 million) in revenue a year. It has reportedly been trying to break into the Australian market for some time.
Rumors of his potential interest in Star first emerged last year after the company's shares lost more than 60 percent of their value.
Star said Monday it had not received any serious proposals from any entities, including Hard Rock Hotels and Casinos, and he stressed that a takeover is not imminent. “At this stage, neither approach has resulted in substantive discussions,” Star told the ASX in a statement.
The federal budget, released last Tuesday, continues to receive comments from analysts. HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham ruminated on the package of subsidy and tax credit measures, but noted the absence of any mention of productivity.
“The word 'productivity' was not used once in Treasurer Jim Chalmers' Budget speech. As we wrote before the Budget, a policy focus on improving productivity is badly needed in Australia,” Bloxham said.
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In New York on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 134.21 points, or 0.3%, to 40,003.59. This and other Wall Street indexes have been steadily rising as the US economy and corporate profits have managed to hold up despite high inflation, the punishing effects of high interest rates and worries about a recession that seemed inevitable but has not arrived.
The S&P 500, the most important benchmark for the global market and most retirement savers, added 6.17 points, or 0.1%, to 5303.27, just 0.1% less than its record set on Wednesday and its fourth consecutive week of gains.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 12.35 points, or 0.1%, to 16,685.97.
It was a good week for US stock markets after an economic report revived hopes that inflation is moving in the right direction after a dismal start to the year. That, in turn, revived hopes that the Federal Reserve would cut its key interest rate at least once this year.
The federal funds rate is at its highest level in more than two decades, and a cut would boost stocks and remove some of the downward pressure on the economy. The hope is that the Fed can perform the balancing act of slowing the economy through high rates enough to end high inflation, but not so much that it causes a bad recession.
Tweet of the day
quote of the day
“For 'inflation hawks', the idea that increasing government spending could reduce inflation is simply absurd. But only because powerful people think something is wrong.” This is Richard Denniss, chief executive of independent think tank the Australia Institute, on why the federal government can buy a reduction in inflation.
Maybe you missed it
If you've ever wondered how your home's energy use is likely to change as the world races towards net-zero emissions, a high-rise warehouse in west London could offer a glimpse into the future. Octopus Energy, a fast-growing British power outfit backed by Australia's Origin Energy, has built two full-size model homes on the Slough commercial estate, where it is trialling innovative technology and training a growing workforce of engineers on how to replace the old gas boilers instead, customized heat pumps.
with AP
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