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Highlights
- Gold miners surge as precious metal hits fresh high
- Crude oil strength boosts energy sector stocks
- Challenger jumps on narrowed profit guidance
The Australian sharemarket advanced modestly by midday, driven largely by strength in gold and energy stocks, as commodity prices posted fresh gains. The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose by 14 points or 0.2% to reach 7772.9, with seven of the eleven sectors trading in positive territory.
Gold miners were among the top gainers as the price of gold climbed 2.7% overnight, breaching the $US3300 per ounce mark for the first time. This surge provided strong tailwinds for companies such as Bellevue Gold (ASX:BGL), which rose 4.6%, Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN), up 2.6%, and Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS), gaining 2.1%.
Energy stocks also outperformed, lifted by a 2.8% jump in crude oil prices. Woodside Energy (ASX:WDS) rose 2.7%, while Ampol (ASX:ALD) added 5.5%. Santos (ASX:STO) gained 2.1% after reporting a rise in production volumes, reaching 21.9 million barrels of oil equivalent for the quarter.
Among notable company updates, Challenger (ASX:CGF) rallied 6.2% following a revised earnings outlook. The financial services firm narrowed its FY25 normalised net profit forecast to between $450 million and $465 million, up from its earlier range of $440 million to $480 million.
AMP (ASX:AMP) edged up 0.1% as its platforms business reported increased net cash flows of $740 million in the latest quarter. However, its assets under management dipped slightly to $78.8 billion, impacted by broader market volatility.
BHP Group (ASX:BHP) advanced 1.1% despite a lower-than-expected iron ore shipment volume of 66.76 million tonnes for the quarter, a 4% decline from the same period last year. While below analyst forecasts, the result was still stronger compared to two of the last four years.
Insignia Financial (ASX:IFL) added 2.2% after extending due diligence discussions with private equity firms Bain Capital and CC Capital by another four weeks.
Meanwhile, lithium producer Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) gained 3.2% after earlier weakness. The company cited a tropical cyclone and a plant shutdown for a sharp decline in quarterly production and revenue. Nevertheless, it reaffirmed its full-year guidance, with March quarter volumes down over one-third to 125,000 tonnes and sales down 40% to $150 million.
In macroeconomic news, Australian employment rose by 32,200 in March, helping the jobless rate remain steady at 4.1%. The robust data prompted a modest reassessment of interest rate expectations heading into May.
