G’day folks! So, here’s the scoop: the land Down Under saw a lovely uptick in stocks this Thursday. Why, you ask? Well, our trusty Telecom, IT, and Financial sectors were shining bright, giving those shares a nice little boost. By the end of the day in Sydney, our S&P/ASX 200 was strutting its stuff with a 0.10% hike. Not too shabby, right?
Now, let’s talk winners and losers – every market’s got ’em! Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) was the star of the show, soaring up by a whopping 12.09%. They’ve added a smooth 0.06 points, ending the dance at 0.51. IGO Ltd (ASX:IGO) wasn’t far behind, tacking on a cool 5.45% and wrapping up at 13.92. And hey, let’s give a shoutout to Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd (ASX:HVN), climbing by 5.21% to 4.04.
On the flip side, though, there were a few bumps in the road. Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC) took a bit of a tumble, dropping 9.38% to close at 6.09. Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) had a rough day too, plunging to its lowest in 5 years, sadly shedding 8.82% down to 0.31. And Webjet Ltd (ASX:WEB)? Well, they found themselves on the slippery slope, sliding 6.06% to 6.98.
But hey, here’s a silver lining: Sydney’s stock market had more risers than fallers, with 679 stocks on the up and 593 on the down. The rest? They just chilled out in the middle.
Getting geeky for a sec – our S&P/ASX 200 VIX (that’s the fancy volatility measure thingy) calmed down by 7.27% to 10.98. In the world of shinies, December’s Gold Futures dipped its toes down by 0.06% to $1,971.85 a troy ounce. And for all you oil enthusiasts, October’s crude oil managed to peek up by 0.21% to $81.80 a barrel, while November’s Brent oil deal inched up 0.12% to $85.34.
Quick forex update: AUD/USD stayed steady with a minor 0.07% nudge to 0.65, and the AUD/JPY slipped down by 0.15% to 94.55. Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index Futures were feeling a bit peppy, bouncing up 0.14% to land at 103.24.
And that’s the roundup, mates! Here’s to hoping for another sunny day in the stock market tomorrow. Cheers! 🍻