Australian equities advanced 33 points, or 0.4%, to 8,838 in early Monday trade, extending prior gains and reaching their highest level in more than five weeks. Risk sentiment improved on the back of a rebound in U.S. equity futures following last week’s chip-sector selloff, as investors shifted their attention to the upcoming earnings season amid growing scrutiny of the AI sector.
Domestically, softer-than-expected labour market data tempered expectations for an imminent rate hike by the Reserve Bank, lending additional support to the market. However, upside was capped by caution ahead of key data releases from major trading partner China later today, including September activity figures, home price data, and third-quarter GDP.
Gains were led by the energy minerals and industrial services sectors, with notable advances from Nextdc Ltd. (up 3.6%), AGL Energy (up 1.7%), and Whitehaven Coal (up 1.2%). Challenger Ltd. jumped 14.5% after TAL Dai-ichi Life was reported to have made a non-binding takeover proposal at AUD 11.80 per share. The four major banks rose between 0.9% and 1.3%.
In contrast, BHP Group eased 0.5%, while Rio Tinto slipped 0.2%.
