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The Australian sharemarket lifted on Friday on the back of strength in the mining sector, utilities and real estate investment trusts following a negative lead from Wall Street overnight. The S&P/ASX 200 was up 16.2 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 7162.2 at about 12.40pm AEST as communications services and consumer discretionary companies weighed the index. Wall Street has had an unhappy August. Credit: AP The Australian dollar remained weak, fetching 64.13 US cents at 12.55pm AEST. Utilities (up 0.8 per cent) were among the strongest companies on the local bourse with Origin (up 2 per cent) among the biggest large-cap advancers and Meridian Energy (up 1 per cent) and AGL (up 0.8 per cent) lifting. Miners (up 1 per cent) were also stronger as iron ore heavyweights BHP (up 1.4 per cent) and Fortescue (up 1.4 per cent) both climbed after the iron ore price lifted 4.4 per cent. Amcor was the biggest large-cap advancer gaining 5.2 per cent. Loading Real estate investment trusts (REITS, up 2.1 per cent) was the strongest sector as Goodman Group gained 7.8 per cent, extending gains from Thursday. Shares in Magellan (up 18 per cent) soared after the company announced a special dividend , cost cuts and improved performance in its flagship global equities fund. Communication services (down 1.8 per cent) was the weakest sector as Telstra (down 2.4 per cent), REA Group (down 1.9 per cent) and TPG (down 1.9 per cent) all declined. Exchange group ASX was the biggest large-cap decliner after the company reported a 38 per cent decline in annual profit on Thursday. Resmed (down 3.1 per cent) bucked the trend among healthcare companies more broadly which lifted 0.6 per cent on the back of strong share price performance from Sonic Healthcare (up 3.3 per cent) and Cochlear (up 3.9 per cent). Consumer discretionary companies (down 0.8 per cent) slipped with Wesfarmers dropping 0.4 per cent, Aristocrat Leisure losing 1.4 per cent and Lottery Corporation shedding 1 per cent. Shares in supermarket giant Coles dropped 1.4 per cent after it said there were delays to the construction timelines for its automated warehouses and a more than $100 million cost blowout. Wall Street fell for a third straight day as rising yields in the bond market keep cranking up the pressure. The losses were widespread. Some of the hardest hit were high-growth stocks seen as the most vulnerable to higher interest rates. Meta Platforms sank 3.1 per cent, and Tesla dropped 2.8 per cent. Apple fell 1.5 per cent and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500. Stocks broadly have been retreating in August following a torrid first seven months of the year. That’s in part because a swift rise in bond yields is forcing a reassessment of how much to pay for stocks. The Bitcoin price sank overnight. Credit: Getty Bitcoin slumped as risk aversion weighs on the cryptocurrency market with global government bond yields climbing to the highest in about 15 years. The largest digital asset by market value was 8.7 per cent lower at $US26,417 ($41,250), extending losses after dropping below $US28,000 for the first time since June 20. The 10-year Treasury, which is the centrepiece of the bond market, is now yielding 4.28 per cent after touching its highest level since October. Homebuyers are feeling the sting. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage hit its highest level this week in more than 20 years. Loading Yields have been on the rise as more reports show the US economy remains remarkably resilient. On the upside for markets, the data means the economy has been able to avoid a long-predicted recession. But on the downside, it could also keep upward pressure on inflation. That would give the Federal Reserve reason to keep interest rates higher for longer. More data came in Thursday showing a firm US economy. Fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected. It’s the latest signal that the job market continues to be solid. A survey of manufacturers in the mid-Atlantic region also unexpectedly showed growth, when economists were expecting another month of contraction. Manufacturing has been one of the areas of the economy hit hardest by much higher interest rates. “The labor market continues to be resilient—maybe too resilient for the Fed’s liking,” said Mike Loewengart, head of model portfolio construction at Morgan Stanley Global Investment Office. Minutes from the Fed’s latest meeting released Wednesday suggested officials are unsure of their next move. They say it will depend on what upcoming reports about inflation and the job market say. Inflation has cooled considerably from its peak above 9 per cent last summer. But consumers still paid prices that were 3.2 per cent higher in July than a year earlier, and economists say the last stretch to get inflation down to the Fed’s 2 per cent target may prove to be the most difficult. With AP, Bloomberg The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day’s trading. Get it each we e kday afternoon . Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. World markets Shares Wall Street Millie Muroi is a business reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald covering banks. Connect via Twitter or email . Most Viewed in Business Loading
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