A stellar session for the S&P/ASX200; it closed at a four-month high at 7,378 up 1.65%, extending its winning streak to five days. Santa is coming.
Investor appetite was super-charged by the US Federal Reserve’s dovish stance to keep rates on hold, signalling an end to a historic monetary policy tightening cycle.
Locally, jobs data outpaced expectations for a second time in November as businesses hired more full-time employees.
Sectors weren’t so specific with all 11 sectors moving higher. Interest-rate-sensitive real-estate stocks were the best performers, gaining 3.9%. Charter Hall (CHC) was the best performer on the 200 gaining 11.7%.
M&A continued with Volpara Health (VHT) shares up a massive 42% after agreeing to a takeover deal; in the small-end tech sector, the takeover tussle for Whispir (WSP) continued with Pendula bidding $0.57 per share for the company.
In other corporate news, Alumina (AWC) shares jumped on a WA mining approval, and Elders (ELD) was hit by a first-strike against its remuneration report at its AGM.
The Aussie dollar hit a four-and-a-half-month high of US65.25, with bond yields continuing to come under pressure.