The ASX shied away from 6000 points again today, as tech gains and Wall Street success failed to buoy a weary market.
Despite a strong start to the morning, the exchange failed to pull a strong finish out of the bag and buck the trend of days before.
By the bell, the benchmark ASX 200 had jumped just 0.19 per cent to reach 5966, while the All Ordinaries rose 0.2 per cent to 6082 points. Since Friday’s close, the ASX 200 has only been able to gain back 24 points, so temptingly close to the 6000 mark.
Supported by tech surges and a record night on the Nasdaq, it seemed like the market could reach new heights mid-afternoon.
Eventually, however, second wave fears subdued the spike and brought the indices back down to the incremental gains that have defined this week.
Across the sectors, tech, healthcare and utility stocks were all standouts. Biotech giant CSL delivered a 1.16 per cent gain to trade for just over $290 a pop. Meanwhile, major healthcare players Fisher and Paykel, Ramsay Health Care and Cochlear also enjoyed healthy gains.
Over in utilities, news of a dividend from market giant APA group buoyed the entire sector, leading it to deliver the largest average gain for the day at 2.22 per cent.
In tech stocks, Afterpay, Xero, and Appen all climbed to new share price heights.
Despite gains across other sectors, our market heavyweights were destined to repeat yesterday’s performance. Materials managed to rise less than one per cent, while financials fell by 0.27 per cent.
Our biggest bank’s green run failed to pull its brethren from the red. CBA spiked just 0.3 per cent, while ANZ fell 0.79 per cent, NAB 0.59 per cent, and WBC 0.44 pre cent.
Also making waves on the market today, gold reached heights not seen since 2012. The precious metal surged to $US1,768.96 an ounce — as high as it’s ever been since October eight years ago. The rise was buffered by a softened US dollar and further market sensitivity as increasing COVID-19 cases emerge.
Today’s ups and downs
Bellevue Gold (ASX:BGL) made tracks today as “exceptionally high recoveries” bolstered its green rally. Today’s announcement saw the mid-tier explorer boast of 97.8 per cent recoveries, set to support the company’s upcoming maiden indicated resource. Currently, Bellevue has pinned its hopes to its namesake gold project in WA, which hosts 2.2 million ounces at 11.3 grammes per tonne of high-grade gold. At market close, BGL shares spiked 11.3 per cent to reach $1.18 each.
On the other hand, however, Red 5’s (ASX:RED) decision to scale-back production at its King of the Hills mine saw its share price head south. The announcement, spurred by lower-than-expected production over RED’s March and June Quarters, put investors off the stock. As a result, Red 5 knocked more than a third off its share price value by the end of the day, now priced 22 cents per share.