Australia’s sharemarket has shrugged off falling global technology stocks and a bump up in oil prices to close higher during Monday’s trading.
The benchmark ASX 200 added 39.00 points or 0.44 per cent to 8845.70, while the benchmark All Ordinaries finished up 35.30 points or 0.39 per cent to 8975.70.
Australia’s dollar firmed against the greenback to buy 69.73 US cents.
On a mixed day of trading, six of the 11 sectors finished higher led by energy producers and the major banks.
Oil prices once again rose on Monday, with the two energy producers Woodside rose 2.69 per cent to $34.03 while Santos added 2.31 per cent to $9.32.
Meanwhile, bourse heavyweight Commonwealth Bank added 0.65 per cent to $155.39, National Australia Bank jumped 1.48 per cent to $39.90, Westpac finished up 0.74 per cent to $35.41 and ANZ rallied 1.03 per cent to $39.29.
Offsetting the gains were falls in technology stocks, as the United States sell-off hit the Asian markets.
Codan shares slipped 0.33 per cent to $62.69, Xero shares dropped 2.38 per cent to $60.32, Technology One fell 1.91 per cent to $31.30.
Global X Joseph Marassa said local traders ignored much of the global volatility as the Australian sharemarket edged higher.
“The S & P/ASX 200 edged higher on Monday, shrugging off another sell-off in US technology stocks as concerns over the AI trade persisted,” Mr Marassa said.
“Defensive names led the market again, while information technology was the weakest sector.”
Mr Marassa said traders were also factoring in weaker-than-expected jobs data that had reduced expectations of an RBA rate hike on Melbourne Cup Day.
“The market-implied probability of a hike is currently sitting at around 20 per cent,” he said.
“However, with oil prices persistently high and the risk of higher inflation, markets may be underpricing the chance the RBA acts again.”
Australia’s sharemarket followed a weak lead in from Wall Street overnight, which continued its falls at the close on Friday.
The S & P 500 lost nearly 2 per cent last week – its biggest weekly decline since late June – while the technology heavy Nasdaq tumbled 4.5 per cent, snapping a four-week winning streak.
Friday’s falls led to a downturn in the rest of the Asian markets, with South Korea’s KOSPI endured another session of heavy losses at the start of trading.
Share in Cleanaway surged 20.24 per cent to $2.97 after telling the market it would sell to Swedish private equity group EQT for $9.3bn.
It was also a strong day for Challenger, which ascended 19.29 per cent to $11.75 due to the annuities giant considering a takeover bid from Japanese Daiichi Life worth $7.8bn.
Fuel giant Ampol fell 2.51 per cent to $41.93, despite announcing refined fuel margins had jumped more than 120 per cent to $US23.92 ($A34.33) a barrel due to war in Iran.