ASX 200 closes marginally up; energy, materials sectors lead gains

Highlights

• The ASX 200 benchmark index closed up today (August 8), gaining 0.071% to end at 7,020.60 points.
• In last five trading sessions, the benchmark index has gained 0.39%, but is down 5.70% on year-to-date basis.
• Eight out of 11 ASX sectors ended the day in red zone.

The Australian share market opened lower today (8 August) but it closed marginally higher at 7,020.60 points, up 0.071%.

 Resource stocks went up after BHP announced a takeover bid for copper producer Oz Minerals.

Key pointers from ASX close today

• The ASX 200 benchmark index closed up today, gaining 0.071% to end at 7,020.60 points.
• Top performing stocks featured OZ Minerals Limited (ASX:OZL) and Appen Limited (ASX:APX), up 35.25% and 13.18% respectively.
• Bottom performing stocks in this index were Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX:SUN) and Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX:MFG), ending 4.64% and 3.60% lower respectively.
• In last five trading sessions, the benchmark index has gained 0.39%, but is down 5.70% on year-to-date basis.
• Eight out of 11 ASX sectors ended the day in red zone.
• Energy was the best performing sector today, gaining 1.85%. The sector has fallen 3.11% in last five trading days.
• A-REIT was the worst performing sector today, down 2%.
• Volatility indicator A-VIX index was down 1.35% at 3.15 PM AEST.
• The All-ordinaries Index gained 0.13%.

Image Source: © 2022 Kalkine Media ® 
Data Source- ASX website dated 5 August 2022

Newsmakers

Imugene Limited (ASX: IMU): At the annual conference of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer in Vienna, Imugene presented fresh data from their PD1-Vaxx trial in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Meanwhile, Shares of Imugene closed trading at AU$0.28 each, up 8.46% on ASX today.

Creso Pharma Ltd (ASX: CPH): Mernova medicinal, a Canadian division of Creso Pharma, received fresh order last month.

In July, the business received purchase orders for CA$416,340 (AU$465,083), an increase from its income in June.

Meanwhile, Shares of Creso closed trading flat at AU$0.040 each on ASX today.

Bond yields

As bond traders revised their interest rate expectations, Australian bond yields increased in tandem with those of their US counterparts. Australia’s 10-year Bond Yield stands at 3.23% as of 4.20 PM AEST.

In global markets

On Friday (August 5), the US markets plunged before regaining a good deal of their composure as unexpectedly positive jobs data suggested that interest rates would need to rise significantly to stifle growth and keep inflation in check.

The S&P 500 fell 0.16% to 4,145.19. The Dow Jones was up 0.23% to 32,803.47. The NASDAQ Composite lost 0.50% to 12,657.55, and the small-cap Russell 2000 rose 0.81% to 1,921.82.

According to a Labor Department report released on Friday, non-farm payroll employment increased by 528,000 in the previous month, returning almost to its pre-pandemic level. This was achieved despite a decline in consumer expenditure and high inflation. Additionally, in the preceding month, the US jobless rate dropped to 3.5%.

In Asia, the Asia Dow was up 0.16% while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.74%, while Nikkei in Japan and Shanghai Composite in China, picked up by 0.24% and 0.28% respectively at 4.28 PM AEST.

In Commodities markets

Crude Oil WTI was spotted trading at US$89.51/bbl while Brent Oil was at US$95.87/bbl at 4.29 PM AEST.

Gold was at US$1774.32 an ounce, copper was at US$3.549/Lbs and iron ore was at US$111.50/T at 4.30 PM AEST.