The ASX200 closed up 0.61% at 8,192 points after breaking its all-time record in intra-day trade. The bourse broke through 2,200 points for the first time as investor sentiment remained buoyant.
August jobs data was better than expected with the addition 47,000 new jobs and a consolidation of last month’s participation rate.
Sectors were mixed and Materials lead the market to a record, up 2.3%, followed by Utilities, up 1.4% and Real Estate, up 1.3%. Industrials fell the most, down 1.3% and Health Care stocks lost half a percent.
In the Green
Strike Energy (ASX: STX) closed up 9.7% after the WA Government removed the export ban for onshore gas production. The new regime allows up to 20% of total production volumes to be exported up until the end of 2030.
Strike Energy closed at 22.5 cents.
Sims (ASX:SGM) closed up more than 12% after updating guidance on Q1, FY25. The company expects to deliver EBIT of $55 million in Q1, with all businesses contributing to the result.
Sims finished the day at $12.40.
Lotus Resources (ASX:LOT) jumped 8.7% after scoping study results for its Uranium project in Botswana confirmed the viablilty of long-life operations.
The company aspires to restart its Malawi asset in 2025 and become a globally significant U308 producer.
Lotus Resources pulled up stumps at 25 cents.
In the Red
Assay laboratory services provider ALS (ASX:ALQ) dipped nearly nine percent after the company flagged headwinds in its minerals division – meaning less companies are paying to have drill cores assayed.
ALS closed at $13.67.
Adriatic Metals (ASX:ADT) finished down 4.1% as the company provided an update on its upcoming notice of operations update presentation.
With little information included and Adriatic’s year to date performance down nearly twenty percent, HotCopper users who commented on the thread were mostly unified in cautious optimism; but that didn’t stop shares from falling.
Adriatic Metals last traded at $3.28.
Shares in thinly traded penny stock Bounty Oil and Gas (ASX:BUY) closed down 22% after conceding it would be hurt by Canberra’s decision to cull the PEP-11.
After years of lobbying and a lawsuit that effectively took former Prime Minister Scott Morrison to court, the company has come out stripped of its offshore NSW asset.
Shares last traded at $0.004.