ASX lifts; gold at fresh record, New Hope jumps 9pc

The Australian sharemarket closed marginally higher on Tuesday after briefly falling into the red earlier in the session with investors wary about the recent rebound on Wall Street.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index swung between gains and losses in afternoon trading before closing up 6.3 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 7860.4 as seven of the sharemarket’s 11 sectors finishing higher. The All Ordinaries rose 0.1 per cent.

The main benchmark is still down more than 8 per cent from its recent high amid a global rout in equities triggered by the US President Donald Trump’s erratic tariff agenda that has raised fears of a recession.

‘Cautious for now’

“The market remains cautious for now,” said Richard Coppleson, director of institutional sales and trading at Bell Potter wrote in a note to clients. “It needs to get through this week without any more big body blows, to see some confirmation that the worst of this sell-off has passed.”

Gains in US shares overnight initially buoyed the ASX following a modest uptick in retail sales data, a key barometer for consumer confidence. But stocks pared gains in the afternoon as US futures traded firmly in the red following an Israeli airstrike across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

The fresh bout of tension in the Middle East also pushed gold to a fresh record at around $US3020 an ounce.

On the ASX, the big banks pared earlier gains, with index heavyweight Commonwealth Bank slipped 0.3 per cent to $144.20 at the close. National Australia Bank dropped 2 per cent to $32.59 and Macquarie 2.3 per cent to $196.10, while Westpac and ANZ finished higher.

Consumer discretionary stocks posted the largest losses as Aristocrat Leisure and JB Hi-Fi dragged on the bourse, falling 2.8 per cent to $64.64 and 2.2 per cent to $85.64, respectively.

Meanwhile utilities stocks, which are typically regarded as defensive in times of market stress, offset some losses with Origin Energy adding 2.2 per cent to $10.81.

Gold stocks turned higher through the session as they tracked the higher gold price. Newmont rallied 2.5 per cent to $74.80 while Northern Star and Evolution Mining swung to gains.

Copper miners were another bright spot after China – the world’s largest consumer of copper – hinted at plans to boost consumption, sending the base metal to a five-month high of $US9861.50 an ounce. Capstone Copper jumped 5.6 per cent to $9.40.

Stocks in focus

In corporate news, New Hope rallied 8.9 per cent to $4 after the coal miner boosted interim profit by more than a third, lifted its dividend to 19¢ and announced a $100 million share buyback.

Woolworths rose 1.4 per cent to $28.14 after Macquarie upgraded the supermarket giant to “outperform”. The investment bank expects traders will snap up supermarket stocks following the release of a key report from Australia’s competition regulator into prices.

Endeavour slipped 1.9 per cent to $4.04 after Goldman Sachs downgraded the alcohol retailer to “neutral”. Analysts pointed to recent senior turnover and cast doubt on its ability to gain market share amid a challenging backdrop.

Gold Road Resources dropped4.9 per cent to $2.51 after it warned of lower expected output from its Gruyere joint venture in the March quarter owing to the failure of two conveyor belts and unforeseen maintenance.

And South Korea’s Hanwha has launched an after-market raid worth up to $180 million for a 9.9 per cent stake in Austal, Street Talk reported. The shipbuilder’s shares jumped 7.6 per cent to $4.12.