Energy companies and the big four banks weighed down the Australian sharemarket on Friday, despite a positive lead from Wall Street, which continued its ascent into record territory.
Real estate investment trusts remained resilient, with Goodman Group up 2.2 per cent, Scentre up 1 per cent and Vicinity Centres up 1.9 per cent. Financials were also a major drag on the index, with all four of the big banks trading in the red. CBA lost 0.9 per cent, NAB shed 1.5 per cent, Westpac slid 1.6 per cent and ANZ declined 0.5 per cent.
Micron Technology shares surged 14.1 per cent to lead chipmakers higher after reporting much stronger results for its latest quarter than expected. It also gave a forecast for profit in the current quarter that topped analysts’ estimates, as it benefits from a rush into artificial intelligence. Treasury yields were mostly steady a day after the Federal Reserve said it still expects to make three interest rate cuts this year. That helped calm some worries on Wall Street that it may pull some early cuts off the table following some hotter-than-expected recent inflation reports.Lower interest rates would relax pressure on the economy and the financial system and be positive for equities. Wall Street now expects the Fed to start cutting rates in June.
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