{"id":830573,"date":"2025-02-28T13:12:05","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T19:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/28\/asx-set-to-rise-googles-parent-weighs-on-wall-street-nissan-honda-merger-in-jeopardy\/"},"modified":"2025-02-28T13:12:05","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T19:12:05","slug":"asx-set-to-rise-googles-parent-weighs-on-wall-street-nissan-honda-merger-in-jeopardy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/28\/asx-set-to-rise-googles-parent-weighs-on-wall-street-nissan-honda-merger-in-jeopardy\/","title":{"rendered":"ASX set to rise, Google\u2019s parent weighs on Wall Street; Nissan-Honda merger in jeopardy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Welcome to your five-minute recap of the trading day.<\/p>\n

The numbers<\/h3>\n

The Australian sharemarket closed higher on Thursday after a broad market rally \u2013 led by retailers, banks and real estate stocks \u2013 following gains on Wall Street as US President Donald Trump\u2019s proposed Gaza takeover detracted from concerns about his tariff diplomacy.<\/p>\n

The S&P\/ASX200 gained 103.8 points, or 1.2 per cent, to reach 8520.7 points. All 11 industry sectors advanced bar energy, which declined along with a slump in oil prices as Trump turned his attention to the Middle East. Banks soared 2 per cent as CBA, the biggest stock on the local bourse, jumped to a record high. The market gains extended the local bourse\u2019s 0.5 per cent rise on Wednesday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"Wall<\/picture><\/div>
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Wall Street rose overnight, even as tech giants like Google struggled.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Bloomberg<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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The Australian dollar retreated and traded at 62.68 US cents at 4.18pm AEDT.<\/p>\n

The lifters<\/h3>\n

Rupert Murdoch\u2019s News Corp was one of the best-performing stocks, climbing 5.8 per cent after the media conglomerate posted a 5 per cent rise in earnings for the second quarter, driven by stronger revenue in real estate division REA Group, book publishing and Dow Jones segments. Operating earnings climbed 20 per cent to $US478 million ($772 million).<\/p>\n

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\"News<\/picture><\/div>
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News Corp was one of the best-performing stocks, rising 4.4 per cent.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Paul Jeffers <\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

News Corp also announced REA\u2019s chief executive, Owen Wilson, has resigned after six years with the business. REA\u2019s shares dropped 0.8 per cent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The four big banks rallied, leading the broader market higher, with CBA notching a record-high at $162.64 (up 2.6 per cent), Westpac gaining 2.2 per cent, ANZ jumping 2.6 per cent and NAB up 2.5 per cent. Real estate investment trusts were also in the green, with shares in Goodman Group rising 1.5 per cent, while shopping centre owners Vicinity, Stockland and Scentre rose 0.9 per cent, 1.1 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively.<\/p>\n

Consumer discretionary stocks were also strong, with Bunnings, Kmart and Officeworks owner Wesfarmer, the sector\u2019s biggest stock, jumping 3.1 per cent. Pokies maker Aristocrat, the second-biggest, was up 1.6 per cent, while retail giant Harvey Norman rose 1.7 per cent.<\/p>\n

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Mining heavyweights had a mixed day. Fortescue added nearly 2 per cent, while bigger rivals Rio Tinto and BHP rose a more muted 0.8 per cent and 0.3 per cent.<\/p>\n

Gold miners advanced after the price of bullion blew through a series of record highs overnight as rising economic and geopolitical risks supported haven demand. Northern Star Resources rose 2.8 per cent, Evolution Mining added 1.8 per cent and Newmont gained 2.1 per cent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The laggards<\/h3>\n

Energy was the only sector in the red. Shares in Ampol and Santos fell 1.2 per cent and 0.6 per cent. Woodside Energy recovered from a slide in the morning and ended 0.2 per cent up. Oil prices stayed near their lowest this year as Trump\u2019s geopolitical positions and threats of tariffs on energy weighed on the outlook.<\/p>\n

West Texas Intermediate traded above $US71 a barrel after falling 2.3 per cent on Wednesday to cancel out all year-to-date gains, while Brent crude closed below $US75. China is set to impose retaliatory tariffs on the US from Monday, igniting a trade war that could hurt global growth, while Trump\u2019s proposal to take over Gaza has been widely condemned by international leaders.<\/p>\n

The lowdown<\/h3>\n

IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore said the Australian sharemarket\u2019s performance on Thursday had been bolstered by gains on Wall Street, solid corporate earnings, and after Chinese authorities set the yuan\u2019s fixing rate at 7.1691 per US dollar, the strongest since November 8th.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe stronger [US dollar\/yuan] fix aligns with China\u2019s restrained response to US tariffs this week and can be interpreted as an indication that China is prepared to accept a 10 per cent tariff rate to delay and avoid more severe tariffs of 40 to 60 per cent, which could damage its already fragile economy,\u201d he wrote in a note to clients.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is good news for the big iron miners, with all four on track to secure a third consecutive day of gains.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overnight in New York, Wall Street drifted higher as broad gains for most stocks outweighed drops for Alphabet and some other big-name companies following their latest profit reports.<\/p>\n

The S&P 500 rose 0.4 per cent, while the Dow Jones added 0.7 per cent, and the Nasdaq gained 0.2 per cent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Toymaker Mattel jumped 15.3 per cent after blowing past analysts\u2019 forecasts for profit in the latest quarter. Strength for its Hot Wheels brand helped make up for some softness for Barbie and other dolls. Mattel also gave a forecast for profit this upcoming year that topped analysts\u2019 expectations.<\/p>\n

Amgen rallied 6.5 per cent and was one of the strongest forces pushing upwards on the S&P 500. It reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected, thanks in part to growth for its Repatha medicine, which can lower bad cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart attack.<\/p>\n

The rises helped offset a 7.3 per cent drop for Alphabet, which sank even though Google\u2019s parent company reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Investors focused instead on slowing growth for its cloud business, whose revenue fell short of forecasts.<\/p>\n

They also homed in on the $US75 billion ($119 billion) Alphabet is budgeting for investments this year, roughly $US15 billion more than analysts expected, as it remains in the rush to develop AI technology.<\/p>\n

After rocking financial markets around the world at the start of this week, worries about a potentially punishing global trade war have eased slightly after Trump gave 30-day reprieves for tariffs on Mexico and Canada. That bolstered traders\u2019 hopes that he sees tariffs as merely a tool for negotiation, rather than as a long-term policy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Tweet of the day<\/h3>\n

Quote of the day<\/h3>\n

\u201cABC managing director David Anderson has just 23 days left as the boss of our embattled public broadcaster, and the Federal Court \u2013 dealing with the termination of radio presenter Antoinette Lattouf \u2013 is not where he wanted to spend it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more of Colin Kruger\u2019s opinion piece here.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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You might have missed<\/h3>\n

Late on Tuesday, the US Postal Service announced that it was suspending delivery of packages from China and Hong Kong. Less than 24 hours later, as the shock reverberated through the global logistics sector, it reversed the decision.<\/p>\n

The USPS about-face is typical of the chaos and confusion generated by Trump\u2019s torrent of executive orders, which are seemingly issued without thought to how they might be implemented, writes Stephen Bartholomeusz in his column.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

With AP<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day\u2019s trading. <\/i><\/b>Get it each we<\/i><\/b>e<\/i><\/b>kday afternoon<\/i><\/b><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Most Viewed in Business<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n

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Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to your five-minute recap of the trading day. The numbers The Australian sharemarket closed higher on Thursday after a broad market rally \u2013 led by retailers, banks and real estate stocks \u2013 following gains on Wall Street as US President Donald Trump\u2019s proposed Gaza takeover detracted from concerns about his tariff diplomacy. The S&P\/ASX200<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":830574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[161,2473],"tags":[6308,5540],"class_list":{"0":"post-830573","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-googles","8":"category-parent","9":"tag-googles","10":"tag-parent"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=830573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/830574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=830573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=830573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=830573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}