The Australian sharemarket advanced to a fresh three-month high on Tuesday, supported by strength in technology and banking stocks, as easing trade tensions between the United States and the European Union bolstered investor sentiment.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 46.6 points or 0.56% to 8,407.6, with six of the 11 sectors finishing in positive territory, led by information technology.
Wisetech Global gained 2.2% after analysts welcomed its acquisition of U.S. cloud-based supply chain software firm E2open, announced on Monday.
Morningstar described the acquisition as “opportunistic", pointing to E2open’s slumping share price and WTC’s strategy to consolidate the freight-forwarding software sector and fend off rivals, while cautioning that it could be a “multidecade journey” given both firms’ history of integration challenges.
The banking sector supported the broader market, with ANZ up 1.4%, Macquarie gaining 1.4%, Westpac rising 1.7%, and Commonwealth Bank up 0.8% to a fresh all-time closing high of $175.34.
Copper stocks outperformed following reports of an offshore bid for Mac Copper, which is now in a trading halt.
Capstone Copper gained 6.8%, leading gains on the index.
Meanwhile, REA Group dropped 3.5% after reports that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is investigating whether the News Corp-controlled real estate platform has misused its market dominance to justify pricing increases.
Looking ahead, investor attention turns to Australia’s April Consumer Price Index (CPI) due Wednesday. The data is expected to show a decline in annual inflation to 2.3%, down from 2.4%, placing it comfortably within the Reserve Bank of Australia’s 2-3% target range.
In bond markets, yields on 10-year and 2-year Australian government bonds were down 1.4% and 0.6% at 4.322%, and 3.350%, respectively.
