The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has started this week on a much more positive note compared to last week as investors eagerly await earnings from some of the ASX’s biggest companies.
The S&P/ASX200 rallied 58.1 points to 7,835.80 as of 10:16 AEST.
The only sectors in the green, however, were telecommunications with a 2.1% gain and consumer staples, which climbed 1.6%. Materials dipped 2.5% and energy started the day nearly 5% lower.
The ASX ended last week in the green following a rollercoaster trading week that was driven by concerns of a looming US recession.
The early top movers in the S&P/ASX 200 today are American location-based service provider Life360 (ASX:360), which advanced 18.1%, international education provider IDP Education (ASX:IEL) with a 7.9% move up and West African Resources (ASX:WAF), which rose 6.8% in early trade.
The bottom performing stocks include Neuren Pharmaceuticals (ASX:NEU) which started the trading session 5.5% lower, online gaming content provider Light and Wonder, which continued its run down by a further 3%, and QBE Insurance (ASX:QBE) with a further 1.7% drop.
However, the rebound may be short lived if earnings released this week from the likes of JB Hi-Fi, AGL Energy, Commonwealth Bank and Telstra point to continued restrained consumer spending and profits impacted by higher financing costs.
Matt Wacher, chief investment officer at Morningstar for the Asia Pacific, told the Australian Financial Review that it will be interesting to see what companies have to say and how this feeds into what appears to have been a slowing macroeconomic picture.
“Anything that points to further heat coming out of the economy will be seen as supportive of the Reserve Bank’s decision to leave rates on hold last week,” he says.
The index has lost 1.88% for the last five days, but sits 4.36% below its 52-week high.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
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