Mining and tech stocks boosted the Australian share market on Wednesday, as it lifted for a fourth straight day, following a strong rebound on Wall Street.
The ASX 200 closed 1 per cent higher, at 7,183 points.
The Australian dollar initially slipped, after the ABS released its latest wage growth data — which showed that, in the March quarter, Australian workers received a 2.4 per cent pay rise over the year.
It fell below economists' expectations of a 2.5 per cent annual wage increase.
By 4:15pm (local time), the local currency had recovered to 70.3 US cents.
Overnight, the broad rally on US stock markets came after weeks of heavy selling that last week saw the S&P 500 sink to its lowest level since March 2021 and the Nasdaq tumble into a bear market.
Recently punished shares of Microsoft, Apple, Tesla and Amazon rose between 2 and 5.1 per cent, driving the S&P and Nasdaq higher.
The S&P 500 climbed 2 per cent to finish the session at 4,089 points.
The Nasdaq closed 2.8 per cent higher, at 11,985 points, while the Dow Jones lifted 1.3 per cent to 32,655.
Fortescue's leadership shake-up
Fortescue Metals' founder Andrew Forrest will take up a more 'hands on' role at his company, as part of a wide-ranging shake-up of its leadership team.
As executive chairman, the mining billionaire will lead the company's iron ore business again, for the first time in more than a decade.
Dr Forrest will temporarily replace outgoing chief executive Elizabeth Gaines, who announced her intention to retire from the top leadership role in December, until a permanent replacement is found.
Ms Gaines will remain on the Fortescue board, and become the "global brand ambassador" of the company's green energy business, Fortescue Future Industries (FFI).
Former General Electric executive Mark Hutchinson will become FFI’s new CEO.
The former CEO of AGL Energy, Andrew Vesey, has been appointed as FFI's head of energy transition projects.
Guy Debelle, the Former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank, will take up the role of FFI chief financial officer in June.
Boral flags further hit to profit
The local share market was boosted by shares of mining giants BHP (+3.2pc), Rio Tinto (+2.1pc) and Fortescue Metals (+2pc).
Small mining companies posted even larger gains, like Champion Iron (+5.3pc), South32 (+5.2pc), Liontown Resources (+2.4pc) and OZ Minerals (+3.9pc).
Meanwhile, Boral's share price dropped 3.1 per cent, after the building materials maker flagged that its annual profit may come in nearly a third below expectations.
In March, the Sydney-listed company warned that heavy rain across Australia's east coast, where most of the population lives, would hurt sales volumes.
At the time, it forecast a pre-tax profit of $145 million to $155 million for the year to June (up from $140 million the previous year).
But in a statement to the ASX today, Boral said trading since then had been "impacted by continuing exceptional rainfall and inflationary cost pressures" and it now expected "additional adverse impacts" to annual profit of about $45 million.
Market pricing for recession 'just too high'
The US stock rally was partially a reaction to overselling after the Nasdaq and S&P 500 last week posted their sixth consecutive weekly loss, Anthony Saglimbene, global market strategist at Ameriprise Financial, said.
"There's this battle in the stock market between what breaks first — inflation or the consumer.
"The stock market is betting that the consumer is going to break and credit markets are betting that inflation is going to break first.
The S&P 500 Banks index jumped 3.8 per cent, with Citigroup climbing almost 8 per cent, after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a nearly $US3 billion investment in the US lender.
Walmart tumbled 11.4 per cent, after the retail giant cut its annual profit forecast, signalling a hit to its margins. That marked the biggest one-day percentage drop for Walmart's stock since 1987.
A positive March-quarter earnings season has been overshadowed by worries about the conflict in Ukraine, soaring inflation, COVID-19 lockdowns in China and aggressive policy tightening by central banks.
Investors were also buoyed by data showing US retail sales increased 0.9 per cent in April as consumers dined out at restaurants more often and bought motor vehicles amid an improvement in supply.
After hitting seven-week highs, oil prices tumbled overnight as Reuters reported that the United States could ease some restrictions on Venezuela's government, raising hopes that the market could see some additional supplies.
Prices also fell after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned the economy could be hurt by attempts to reduce inflation.
Brent crude dropped 1.3 per cent, to $US112.77 a barrel.
Spot gold was steady at $US1,814.53 an ounce.
ABC/Reuters
