Goodman shares also traded for the first time without the right to its latest dividend. Among other shares trading ex-dividend were property trusts Charter Hall (down 1.4 per cent) and GPT Group (down 1.1 per cent), developer Mirvac (down 0.5 per cent) and tollroad operator Transurban (down 1.7 per cent).
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The financial sector, which makes up more than a third of the ASX, pared some of its early gains but still finished the day with moderate gains. CBA, the nation’s biggest stock, was up 0.5 per cent, National Australia Bank added 0.4 per cent, Westpac rose 0.2 per cent and ANZ Bank edged up 0.1 per cent. Insurers advanced, with QBE gaining 1.4 per cent and Suncorp up 0.8 per cent.
Energy stocks gained ground along with rising oil prices. US benchmark crude jumped 2.4 per cent to settle at $US58.08 per barrel overnight and held the bulk of its gain as traders weighed geopolitical tensions from Venezuela to Russia and Iran against concerns about a glut. Brent traded below $US62 a barrel after rising 2.1 per cent overnight, while West Texas Intermediate was near $US58. Oil and gas giant Woodside rose 1.3 per cent, Santos gained 1.7 per cent and refiner Ampol added 0.4 per cent.
Origin Energy rose 1.2 per cent after saying Kraken Technologies, which helps utilities manage the transition to cleaner energy, has been valued at $US8.65 billion ($12.9 billion) after the software platform’s first share sale. Kraken is owned by Octopus Energy Group, in which Origin is a major investor. Kraken will raise $US1 billion in equity from new and existing shareholders, paving the way for a formal separation from Octopus in the middle of next year, Origin said in a statement.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 0.4 per cent, with shares of Tesla, Nvidia and Meta Platform among the losers. The US stock benchmark index is still up close to 18 per cent for the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5 per cent, as did the Nasdaq composite.
Big technology stocks were among the heaviest weights on the US market. Nvidia fell 1.2 per cent and Tesla was down 3.3 per cent. Investor optimism about the future of artificial intelligence has been driving the sector mostly higher all year and pushing the broader market to a series of records.
The weakness in US stocks “is a reversal from last week when tech stocks led on the way up,” said Joe Mazzola, head trading and derivatives strategist at Charles Schwab. However, it “doesn’t appear connected to any single fundamental factor”.
Technology stocks have been more unsteady as the year heads to a close. They mostly slipped in November and have only notched modest gains through December. Nvidia and several other companies focusing on AI or benefiting heavily from the developing technology have become some of the most valuable in the world. Investors have seemingly become more sceptical about whether the eventual pay-off will make the hefty investments worthwhile.
Treasury yields fell on the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.10 per cent from 4.13 per cent late on Friday.
Treasury yields have fallen significantly from the start of the year. That’s partly due to initial anticipation for cuts and eventual cuts to interest rates in 2025 from the Federal Reserve. The central bank cut its benchmark interest rate three times late in the year. At the same time, it started facing a more complicated economic situation, where inflation remained stubbornly high while the job market slowed.
Interest rate cuts could boost the US economy by making loans less expensive, but that benefit could be nullified by rising inflation, which can stunt economic growth.
With AP and Bloomberg
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