The Australian stock market looks like kicking off the week with a solid rise after a confident end to trading in Europe and on Wall Street overnight.
Eurozone shares rose 1% on Friday and the S&P 500 added half a percent, helped by China’s confirmation of policy stimulus and more upbeat words about the trade talks with the US.
Worries about Brexit were shaken off, especially in Europe.
Commodities mostly finished firmer, though iron ore dipped on Friday.
That positive global lead saw ASX 200 futures end 35 points or 0.6% higher on Saturday morning and pointing to a positive start to trade for the ASX later today.
That will be a stronger start to the performance last week which saw the key ASX 200 index lose 28.6 points or 0.5% to end at 6,175.2. The All Ords lost 22 points or 0.3% to end at 6,265.1.
The big miners had a mixed week. BHP fell 1.1% to $36.48, Rio Tinto though rose 1.2% to $91.65, South32 shares added 0.8% to $3.81 but Fortescue Metals Group lost 0.3% to end at $6.48.
A stronger gold price over the week saw gold miners also advance. Newcrest Mining shares rose nearly 1% to end at $24.72, Evolution Mining rose 4.6% to $3.65, St Barbara advanced 8% to $4.50 and Saracen Minerals shares ended at $2.79, up 8.6%.
Kogan.com shares lost 6.5% at $3.74 despite its shares soaring on Thursday after announcing the launch of Kogan Marketplace in a bid to compete with Amazon, eBay and Catch Group. Appen shares ended the week down 5% at 423.15 after raising funds earlier in the week for a major deal in the US. The shares issued in that raising were at an 11% to the market price, so Friday’s close saw that gap halved.
Bank shares weakened, accounting for much of the weakness. ANZ shares fell 2.8% to $26.35, Westpac lost nearly 2% at $26.48, NAB slid 0.7% to $25.21, Commonwealth Bank shares slipped 1.2% to $72.31 and Macquarie closed at $127.74, down 0.6%.
Sigma Healthcare shares fell 14.6% to 52.5 cents after rejecting the takeover approach from rival Australian Pharmaceutical Industries.
Sigma boss Mark Hooper said API would have to significantly boost its $730 million cash and scrip offer but this week Sigma reports its latest results and the news is not expected to be all that great for shareholders.
