A big rally to start the week, reversing Friday’s losses. Hopes that US inflation may have peaked, optimism surrounding a turnaround for Chinese property developers and M&A activity locally largely explaining the green on screen.
Most sectors posted strong gains, led by technology, energy, materials and financials which rose more than 1.4%. Consumer staples, healthcare and utilities underperformed, reflecting an easing of investor risk aversion.
Keeping with the broader turnaround story, many beaten down names were among the top performers with Brainchip, Life360, Pendal and Liontown Resources surging more than 7%.
WiseTech Global wasn’t far behind, gaining 6.8% as brokers reacted to its guidance upgrade on Friday. EML Payments rose 6.7% after confirming it’s been in discussions with potential suitors. Suncorp jumped 5.9% after agreeing to sell its banking division to ANZ. Whitehaven Coal impressed, rising 4.5% following a positive production update.
Losers were few and far between. A2 Milk fell 1.8% on a broker downgrade while CSL slipped 1%, after rebounding strongly in recent weeks.
The S&P/ASX 200 rallied 1.23%, or 81.5 points, to close at 6687.1.