Australia: Shares end higher on mining boost, post third weekly gain

AUSTRALIAN shares closed higher on Friday (Jun 3) to mark a third straight weekly gain, as mining stocks led gains amid strength in global equities, with investors now eyeing US jobs data for further cues on the Federal Reserve’s policy stance.

The S&P/ASX 200 index ended 0.9 per cent higher at 7,238.80. For the week, the benchmark rose 0.8 per cent.

Asian equities gained as investors hoped the US jobs report due later in the day might sway the Fed to slow its current aggressive pace of rate hikes over the coming months.

The Australian market started on a positive note, but it started fading from the peak as the day went since investors were not trusting the rebound, said Deep Data Analytics’ CEO Mathan Somasundaram.

“It is still being looked at as another bear market bounce.”

Mining stocks rose 2.9 per cent on strong iron ore prices. Heavyweights BHP Group and Rio Tinto rose 2.5 per cent and 2.7 per cent, respectively.

Lithium miners also extended gains, with Pilbara Minerals , Liontown Resources, and IGO rising 4-7.5 per cent.

Financial stocks ended up 0.1 per cent but snapped a 2-week winning streak to record a 1.3 per cent weekly loss.

Energy and gold stocks rose 1 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively.

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Separately, a Reuters poll found that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will raise rates by 25 basis points (bps) for a second straight meeting in June. However, nearly a third of the polled economists predicted a 40 bps increase.

“We think the strength of the price and wage measures in the GDP data should be enough to convince RBA to deviate from a regular 25 bps move and lift the cash rate a bit, a little faster,” economists at ANZ said in a note.

New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index closed 0.6 per cent higher at 11,417.34 — its best weekly gain in 4 months with a 3.2 per cent jump. REUTERS