Australia’s share market is heading for its first positive session this week, after precious metals surged on a US government bond market intervention.
The S&P/ASX200 rose 11.7 points by midday, up 0.13 per cent, to 9,065.5, as the broader All Ordinaries advanced 21.7 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 9,276.9.
It came after a modest rebound in US stocks overnight as the US government announced support for long-dated government bonds, after a global sell-off had unnerved investors.
That triggered a relief rally rather than over a fresh wave of optimism, Moomoo dealing manager Paco Chow said.
“The recovery came after the US Treasury announced plans to double buybacks of longer-dated bonds,” Mr Chow said.
“That additional demand helped ease borrowing costs, which had climbed sharply.”
The intervention came as US government debt reached $US40 trillion ($A56.2 trillion), and as Australia’s sovereign debt has topped $1 trillion for the first time.
Falling bond yields sent gold and other precious metals surging, with spot gold above $US4,520 ($A6,356) an ounce for the first time since early June.
The local gold sub-index rocketed eight per cent higher, with strong leads from Evolution and Newmont, along with Northern Star after an in-line earnings result.
BHP also did some heavy-lifting, with its shares up 2.2 per cent to $65.08, just 87 cents short of record highs.
Fortescue slipped 0.6 per cent after after its full-year bottom-line profit slumped to $US2.9 billion ($A4 billion) due to a $737 million write-off of its green metal Iron Bridge mine, while underlying earnings improved.
The health care sector continued its strong rebound, up more than two per cent, as CSL continued its post-earnings rally and segment-based buying persisted.
Local technology stocks performed well, and the energy sector gained 0.8 per cent as crude prices continued to edge higher.
The heavyweight financials sector fell almost two per cent, with insurers weighing heavily as Medibank tumbled, despite improving its underlying full-year profit 2.9 per cent to $636.8 million.
The major banks continued to sell off, with CommBank leading the big four lower with a 2.1 per cent slump to 10-week lows of $157.21 per share.
Consumer cyclical stocks eased 0.2 per cent in a mixed session for the sector.
Supercheap Auto owner Super Retail was a stand out, with its shares rocketing more than 16 per cent higher after growing total sales 3.2 per cent despite a tough retail environment.
In other earnings news, Cleanaway’s full-year statutory net profit tumbled by more than a third to $98.5 million, but its $2.62 share price still found support from EQT’s recent $3.13 per share takeover bid.
The Australian dollar is buying 71.15 US cents, up from 70.75 US cents on Wednesday at 5pm AEST, but easing slightly after a weaker-than-expected jobs report.
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