Boom, boom for the ASX 200 after last week’s surging end and solid gain for the five days. Another 50-point gain was penciled in for today after the overnight futures market ended strongly early Saturday (Australian time).
Share price index traders left a 50 to 51-point gain on the table early Saturday to be taken up from 10 am today (Monday).
This was after the ASX 200 added 1.75% over the first week of the new quarter and financial year, capped off by a 0.88% rise on Friday as the big four banks continued to drive the market higher.
The week ended with the Australian share market hitting a record high on Friday, as the Commonwealth Bank edged past BHP as the country’s biggest company. The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 69.7 points, or 0.88%, to 7,959.3 – just shy of its intraday peak of about 7,969 – with all sectors except technology moving higher.
The Australian dollar traded around 67.61 US cents in Australia on Friday and edged further higher offshore to close at 67.66 US cents, a seven-month high.
CBA, the country’s biggest bank, overtook mining giant BHP to become Australia’s most valuable public company after a 1.3% rise, compared to BHP's 0.37% drop (after it revealed multi-billion-dollar losses on its WA nickel business, which is being suspended for at least three years).
CBA shares are up 21% year-to-date, while BHP shares have fallen 14% as iron ore and copper prices surged, then softened.
CBA shares closed at $131.66, giving the company a market capitalization of $220.12 billion, compared to BHP’s cap of about $220.04 billion after its shares ended Friday at $43.40.
CBA’s gains lifted its rivals: National Bank shares climbed 2.1%, Westpac was up 1%, and ANZ added 0.9%.
CBA shares were up 2.5% for the week, NAB shares added 4.7%, Westpac shares rose 2.5%, and ANZ shares were up 3%, despite more allegations about possible misconduct in the Australian government bond market.
At more than $114 billion, NAB is second among the banks, distant to CBA, and ahead of Westpac with a value of $96.7 billion, and ANZ at $89 billion. Macquarie is a distant fifth at $77 billion.
With media reports suggesting BHP is considering a joint near $A3.5 billion bid for a Canadian copper-gold miner, investors will have a chance to weigh in on that news when trading starts at 10 am today.
