Markets

The highs felt after the big gains over April have been quickly forgotten with the ASX 200 slumping by roughly 200 points or 3.5% even before lunch. No sector has been spared from heavy selling with energy, materials and financials weighing most.

Investors engaged in end month profit-taking and responded to earnings results. In response to earnings, shares in Facebook rose 5.4%, McDonalds lost 0.1% and American Airlines fell 4.9%. The Dow Jones index fell by 288 points or 1.2%. The S&P500 index fell by 0.9% and the Nasdaq index lost 25 points or 0.3%. The Dow and S&P 500 indexes posted the strongest monthly gains since January 1987. Over April the Dow rose 11.1%, S&P 500 rose 12.7% and Nasdaq rose 15.5%.

The Aussie market has enjoyed some big improvements over April with the ASX 200 lifting 129pts or 2.4% to 5,522 for the last day of the month. The broader All Ords did even better climbing 9.5% in April for its best monthly gain since March 1988.

At the end of the day, gains were across the majority of the market with more defensively oriented stocks underperforming. Banks and energy stocks contributed most to the broader market moves. The big four banks all rallied by a minimum of 4.2%.

At the end of the day, gains were across the majority of the market with more defensively oriented stocks underperforming. Banks and energy stocks contributed most to the broader market moves. The big four banks all rallied by a minimum of 4.2%.

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At the end of the day, gains were across the majority of the market with more defensively oriented stocks underperforming. Banks and energy stocks contributed most to the broader market moves. The big four banks all rallied by a minimum of 4.2%.

The Aussie market has had a volatile start to the session, with gains from the banks and resource stocks doing enough to push the ASX 200 up 1.12% to 5,372.4.

The Aussie market was unable to maintain a solid start where it was close to 1% higher but also finished well off session lows, the benchmark index traded in a 101 point range throughout the day.

The Aussie market was unable to maintain a solid start where it was close to 1% higher but also finished well off session lows, the benchmark index traded in a 101 point range throughout the day.

Banks pushed the market higher in early trade after Westpac announced $2.2bln in impairments without pursuing a capital raising, although by lunch the market had surrendered the early gains to be flat, after being up 52pts at session highs.

US sharemarkets rose on Monday as investors were buoyed by the possibility of a reopening of the economy after the virus outbreak. Several US states are beginning to allow restaurants and other establishments to serve customers. Retail and travel stocks lifted with Kohl’s (+17.7%), Gap (+12.9%), MGM Resorts (+9.3%) and Walt Disney (+4.8%) leading the way. Shares of Tesla rose by 10.2% on plans to call some workers back to its California vehicle assembly plant next week. The Dow Jones index rose by 358 points or 1.5%. The S&P500 index also rose by 1.5% and the Nasdaq index rose by 95 points or 1.1%.

After a rather flat start, Aussie shares have advanced for a second successive session in what has been a solid start to the new week. The ASX 200 ended Monday’s session higher by 78 points or 1.5% to 5321. Today’s gain was the best in close a fortnight.

Banks weighed on the market in early trade after the NAB announced a $3.5 billion capital raising. Retailers were higher boosted by encouraging updates.

Ahead of earnings results, shares in Apple rose 2.9% and Microsoft gained 1.8%. But shares in Boeing lost 6.6% on reports of plans to cut production. The Dow Jones index rose by 260 points or 1.1%.

The Aussie market achieved something on Friday it hasn’t done all week, closing higher by 25 points or 0.5%. It wasn’t enough to avoid the first weekly decline in 5 weeks for the ASX 200.

Local shares are pushing slightly higher at lunch on Friday with markets struggling for much direction over the past few days. The continued rebound in oil prices is helping boost local energy stocks to outperform while consumer stocks are lagging.

US sharemarkets were mixed on Thursday. Restraining prices was disappointment on a trial of a COVID-19 vaccine. The Financial Times said Gilead Science’s Remdesivir did not improve patients’ condition in a Chinese trial.

The ASX 200 has again lacked much conviction with the index finishing down just 4pts or 0.08% to 5,217. This was after a positive start from a strong US lead and rebound in oil prices.

Despite a solid lead from Wall St, the Aussie market is giving back some of its earlier improvement but still managing to hold onto gains at lunch. Resource stocks have helped lead the charge higher as commodity prices rebound from recent selling, but more defensive sectors such as health, utilities and staples are lagging.

US sharemarkets rose on Wednesday. The US House of Representatives is expected to pass a $484 billion relief package on Thursday. And a rebound in oil prices boosted the energy sector. The Dow Jones index rose by 457 points or 2.0%.

After falling close to 5% in the first two days of the week, the Aussie market has managed to avoid a third successive decline with the ASX 200 ending the day flat at 5,221.