Stocks in Australia Hit 5-week High

Australian shares jumped 96 points or 1.1% to 8,818 in early Friday trade, rebounding after two sessions of weakness and reaching a five-week high as Wall Street recovered overnight, with tech stocks stabilising after a recent sell-off. In top trading partner China, PBoC Governor Pan Gongsheng reaffirmed a moderately loose policy stance, signaling continued growth support while balancing financial stability. Locally, September employment unexpectedly fell, tempering bets on further RBA tightening. However, gains were capped by caution ahead of China’s Q3 GDP release next week. Nearly all sectors advanced, led by commercial services, non-energy minerals, manufacturing, and logistics. The big four banks rallied sharply, rising 1.9% to 3.3%. Maggie Beer Holdings gained 3.6% after scrapping its hamper sale plan, while Woolworths surged 4.3%, QBE Insurance rose 2.7%, and Computershare added 2.2%. For the week, markets are tracking a third straight weekly gain, up nearly 1% so far.

ASX200 increased to 8809.00 Index Points, the highest since September 2026. Over the past 4 weeks, Australia Stock Market Index (AU200) gained 1.25%, and in the last 12 months, it decreased 2.9%.

The ASX 200 fell 11 points, or 0.1%, to close at 8,720 on Thursday, extending prior drops as weakness in tech, non-energy minerals, and industrial services weighed. Still, early declines eased after September employment in Australia unexpectedly fell, tempering bets on further tightening by the Reserve Bank, with odds of a November hike dropping below 20% from 35% earlier. Meanwhile, the jobless rate held at 4.7%, its highest in nearly five years. In the U.S., futures tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell after a sharp sell-off in tech and hotter-than-expected inflation raised Fed hike concerns. BHP Group shed 4.8% despite averting a strike at Escondida, the world’s largest copper mine. Other laggards included South32 (-5.7%), Goodman Group (-4.6%), Evolution Mining (-3.0%), and Northern Star Resources (-2.0%). In contrast, WiseTech Global jumped 2.9% after ASIC cleared founder Richard White and two staff in a year-long insider trading probe, though one investigation remains ongoing.