End of Day Report – Thursday 15 May: ASX up 18 points | CBA and banks driving higher

Market Updates

The ASX 200 rose 18 points to 8298 (+0.2%) as the banks put in another solid day. CBA is up 1.3% with NAB once again slightly outperforming, ANZ up 1.7% with the Big Bank Basket up to $266.85 (+1.3%). MQG rallied 1.2% with other financials mixed. Insurers better, IAG rose 5.7% after signing a deal with RACWA. Up 5.7%. REITs were once again under pressure as yields continued higher as job numbers came in better than expected. SCG down 1.9% and GMG off 1.0%. Industrials rose, WES up 2.2%, and ALL recovered some of the dips yesterday,y up 1.9%, with WOW and COL slightly better. Tech rallied, and XRO released some good numbers, rising 4.7%. Resources failed to launch again, BHP down 0.7% with RIO off 0.4% and gold miners under siege as bullion falls again. GMD down 3.2% and NEM off 4.0%. Base metal and lithium stocks eased, MIN up 1.9%. Oil and gas slid back, WDS down 1.8%, and uranium mixed again.

In corporate news, GNC leaped 8.8% on a positive update, and NWH fell 8.3% after a warning on the Valhalla steelworks sale process. MYX jumped 8.2% after Deloitte reviewed the Cosette $672m deal. TWE fell 5.2% as the CEO stepped down.

On the economic front, the labour market showed strength, with a jump of 89k jobs in April, more than the 20k forecast. Asian markets drifted lower, with Japan down 0.9%, HK down 1.0%, and China down 0.7%. Dow futures down 0.5%, NASDAQ futures down 0.2%.

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