Staff writers
Updated ,first published
The Australian sharemarket dived on its first day of trade after an extended Christmas break, with 10 out 11 industry sectors falling.
The S&P/ASX 200 was down 37 points or 0.42 per cent to 8725.70 at Monday’s close, led by the info tech sector which lost 1.05 per cent.
A brief morning rally in gold stocks failed to offset a sharp fall (6.47 per cent) at Netwealth Group, a financial services provider recently forced to pay $100 million in compensation over failures at superannuation fund First Guardian. Controversial weapons manufacturer Droneshield also saw its shares slide 4.56 per cent.
Gold miners Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining rose in early trade on the back of bullion setting fresh records last week, but pared back gains during the day, with Northern Star closing 0.74 per cent lower and Evolution managing a small gain of 0.46 per cent.
Precious metals surged to fresh records last week, extending a powerful year-end rally that was fuelled by rising geopolitical tensions and a softer US dollar. Gold, silver and platinum all climbed to all-time highs, lifting shares of other global miners, including Coeur Mining and Freeport-McMoRan. The spot gold price rose 1.1 per cent by Friday; earlier, the yellow metal had peaked above $US4530 ($6760) an ounce.
Global mining behemoth BHP closed down 0.37 per cent and Rio Tinto, while initially up, fell 0.53 per cent over the day’s trade. Fortescue ended down 1.3 per cent.
Only one of the bourse’s 11 industry sectors, healthcare, was in the green.
Three of the big banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac, ended the day down slightly, while the ANZ remained buoyant, up 0.28 per cent. Energy stocks also fell.
The Australian dollar was trading about US67.22¢ late afternoon Monday.
In the US, stocks wavered near a record high in thin holiday trading on Friday as investors shifted attention to a relentless rally in commodities. Nvidia climbed as analysts viewed a licensing deal with artificial intelligence start-up Groq positively.
The S&P 500 finished little changed and the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.1 per cent. Among S&P 500 sectors, materials and tech led gains, while consumer discretionary and energy retreated.
Optimism remains anchored to seasonal patterns. Equity bulls are increasingly focused on a so-called Santa Claus Rally – the stretch covering the final trading sessions of the year and the first two of January – as a potential catalyst for further gains, even as enthusiasm around AI and the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate outlook comes under greater scrutiny.
“Markets remain constructive but selective with the final four sessions to go,” Piper Sandler chief market technician Craig Johnson wrote in a note. “The combination of improving breadth and easing inflation supports the call for a Santa Claus rally into year-end.”
Oil advanced towards the biggest weekly gain since October as traders weighed up supply risks. The markets tracked reports of a partial US blockade of crude shipments from Venezuela, alongside a military strike by Washington that targeted a terrorist group in Nigeria.
The S&P 500 had been up nearly 18 per cent year to December 24, marking a third straight year of double-digit gains. Wall Street strategists largely expect the advance to continue, with the average forecast for the index standing at 7464 by the end of next year, implying upside of about 7.7 per cent, Bloomberg data shows.
Confidence has also been returning around the outlook for corporate profits, particularly after earlier worries that valuations in technology stocks had raced too far ahead amid the AI boom. Investors are increasingly betting that companies will deliver the earnings growth needed to justify prices in 2026.
“2026 is likely going to be a prove-it year for markets,” wrote Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management. “Companies must deliver tangible productivity and margin gains from artificial intelligence and other investments.”
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