ASX recovery persists for two days in a row

The Australian share market has shown resilience by rallying for the second consecutive day, recovering from recent one-year lows it experienced in the past days.

On Wednesday, the S&P/ASX200 index gained 57.60 points, equivalent to a 0.85% increase, closing the day at 6,838.30. This positive momentum helped the market regain losses incurred in the previous week when it reached a 2023 low of 6,812.00 last Thursday. However, over the past year, the index is down by 2.85%, according to the ASX website.

The All Ords index also saw an upward trend, adding 57.1 points or 0.82% to reach a value of 7,024.60.

The Australian share market’s recent gains were in line with the positive performance of Wall Street, where investors were awaiting the latest policy statement from the US Federal Reserve, which was widely expected to maintain steady interest rates.

Most industries observed an increase in their share prices, with nine out of the 11 sectors ending the day with gains. The only exceptions were the consumer staples and utilities sectors.

The leading sectors in terms of gains were real estate, with a 1.85% increase, followed by healthcare and energy, which both saw increases of 1.45% and 1.13%, respectively.

Notable winners from the day’s trading included Regal Partners, which experienced a significant boost of 7.71%, resulting in a share price of $1.885. This improvement came after Regal acquired a 50% stake in Taurus Funds Management, a global commodities financier, increasing its assets to $8 billion.

Chalice Mining also made substantial gains, with its share price rising by 8.94% to $1.95. Pro Medicus saw its share price surge by 5.18% to $78.40 after signing an eight-year contract with South Shore Health worth $16 million.

Mining companies were among the gainers, with major firms witnessing significant increases in their share prices. Fortescue saw a 2.51% rise to $22.86, followed by Rio Tinto, which increased by 2.45% to $120.44, and BHP, with a 1.55% increase to $45.19.

The banking sector also experienced improvements in share prices, led by Westpac, which increased by 0.68% to reach $20.74. ANZ saw a rise of 0.65% to $24.87, NAB increased by 0.39% to $28.16, and CBA saw a 0.32% rise, reaching $96.87. However, Macquarie Bank didn’t follow the trend, with its share price dipping by 0.09% to $104.90.

On the downside, New Hope Corporation and Bellevue Gold were among the companies that experienced losses, with New Hope Corporation falling by 4.51% to $5.51 and Bellevue Gold declining by 4.50% to $1.38.