ASX 200 ends higher for second day, rises 1.1% as tech stocks rebound

April 29, 2022 07:35 PM AEST | By Priyabrata Prusty

ASX 200 ends higher for second day, rises 1.1% as tech stocks rebound — Image source: © 2022 Kalkine Media®

Highlights

Gains in the market were broad-based today with all the 11 individual sectors ending in the positive territory.

The IT sector rose 2.25% on Friday followed by Telecom and Consumer Discretionary, which added 1.89% and 1.46% respectively.

ResMed was among the top-5 losers today as higher freight and manufacturing costs weighed on its profit margins.

Australian equities extended gains for the second day in a row on Friday (29 April) with the benchmark ASX 200 index rising 1.06% or 78.10 points to 7,435. What is heartening was that today's gains were broad-based with all 11 sub-indices ending in the positive territory. However, the ASX 200 index fell 0.9% in April after rising for two months in February and March.

Gains in the market were led by tech stocks following overnight rally on Wall Street. The IT sector rose 2.25% on Friday followed by Telecom and Consumer Discretionary, which added 1.89% and 1.46% respectively. Rest other sectors gained between 0.43% and 1.26% today.

Also Read: From CBA to NAB: How much dividend these 5 ASX banking stocks have paid?

Analysts say Australian equities remain relatively attractive for foreign investors with US market facing inflation risk while the Russia-Ukraine war is weighing on European markets. Strong commodity prices, tighter labour market and higher domestic savings are some of the factors that make Australian shares attractive even though there is an impending rate hike around the corner.

According to a Reuters poll of 32 economists, half of them believe the cash rate would be increased for the first time in more than a decade at 3 May RBA meeting. All major banks in Australia—Westpac (ASX:WBC), National Australian Bank (ASX:NAB), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA), Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)--ended higher today, ahead of a possible rate hike next week. However, mining giants like Rio Tinto and BHP Group were relatively flat today, while Fortescue Metals closed 0.50% lower.

Top gainers and losers

Bookmaker PointsBet (ASX:PBH) was the top gainer in the ASX 200 index today, rising 10.7% as investors rushed to buy the stock after the company reported a 54% annual jump in its revenue for the third quarter of the current financial year. The growth was led by expansion of its U.S. operations. The stock rose as much as 15% in intraday trade today. ZIP, NIC, PDN, TYR were the other top-5 gainers in the index today, rising between 6.355% and 7.346%.

So far as other major gainers are concerned Telix Pharmaceuticals shares rallied 9.2%.

ResMed (ASX:RMD) was among the top-5 losers today as higher freight and manufacturing costs weighed on its profit margins. Shares of the company tumbled 4.1% to close at $29.14 apiece.

Online retailer Kogan.com slumped nearly 14% after it reported a slowdown in e-commerce business in the March quarter. In a blow to shareholders, the online retailer said its overall sales moderated in the first three months of the year, falling 3.8% to AU$262.1 million.

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