The Australian sharemarket closed higher on Thursday, supported by strong earnings from Coles and Qantas, while upbeat results from U.S. chipmaker Nvidia this morning further lifted investor sentiment.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 27.5 points or 0.3% to 8,268.2, with eight of the eleven sectors finishing in the green.
Consumer Staples finished 1.6% higher overall as Coles Group surged 3.5% after increasing its interim dividend to 37 cents despite easing profits in the first half of the 2025 financial year.
Qantas climbed 5.6% following an 11.2% increase in underlying profits before tax to A$1.385 billion. The Board also announced an interim dividend of 16.5 cents per share and a special dividend of 9.9 cents per share, both fully franked
Meanwhile, Virgin Australia received regulatory approval for Qatar Airways to acquire a 25% stake, adding further optimism to the sector.
Investor sentiment was also lifted by Nvidia’s better-than-expected fourth-quarter results, which reported record revenue of US$39.3 billion. Despite the strong figures, Nvidia’s stock fell 1.5% in after-hours trading.
Among other reporting companies, Perpetual fell 9.2% after reporting a 65% drop in interim net profit, primarily due to a $25.2 million impairment on fund assets.
Eagers Automotive jumped 21.9% after reporting record full-year revenue of $11.2 billion, a 13.6% increase on the previous corresponding period.
Medibank Private popped 10% as the company reported a 13.8% boost in 1H FY25 underlying net profit to $298.7 million.
On the bond markets, 10-year and 2-year yields ticked 0.2% and 0.3% higher to 4.344% and 3.785%, respectively.
