ASX200 rises on iron ore and oil price rebound, banking rally

The Australian sharemarket notched a powerful rebound rally on Tuesday, propelled by a pop in iron ore and oil prices and a surge in financials led by behemoth Commonwealth Bank.

The benchmark ASX200 leapt 105.1 points, or 1.36 per cent, to close at 7838.8, while the broader All Ordinaries index surged 101.8 points, or 1.28 per cent, to hit 8076.9.

Tech stocks lifted 0.6 per cent to finish at 3107.7.

Tuesday’s surge clawed back losses from Monday’s slump and pushes the market to within 72 points of its record high of 7910.

The Aussie dollar gained 0.1 per cent against the Greenback to buy US66.6c at the close.

The rally was broad, with all 11 industry sectors ending in the green, led by energy, with a 2.23 per cent upswing and materials with a 1.83 per cent rise.

“The oil price touched a high of $81.90 on Tuesday, its highest level in eight weeks,” IG markets analyst Tony Sycamore said.

“The gains in oil have been supported by concerns over supply following recent Ukraine drone attacks on Russian oil infrastructure and hopes of improving demand as the US driving season gathers momentum.”

Sector heavyweight Woodside Energy advanced 3.67 per cent to $27.96 a share, Santos lifted 1.73 per cent to $7.63 and Beach Energy climbed 1.69 per cent to $1.50.

Iron ore prices gained 1.3 per cent in Asia on Tuesday, hitting $103.90 a tonne and propelling a lift in the big miners.

BHP rose 2.1 per cent to $43.32, Rio Tinto rallied 2.07 per cent to $121.45 and Fortescue lifted 1.93 per cent to $21.67.

Financials surged 1.45 per cent, led by Commonwealth Bank with a 1.44 per cent rise to hit a new record high of $128.63.

NAB advanced 2.03 per cent to $36.69, ANZ lifted 0.59 per cent to $28.82 and Westpac rose 1.18 per cent to $27.47.

The rally bucked some potential storm clouds for equities.

Westpac’s June consumer sentiment index rose 1.7 per cent to 83.6 from 82.2 in May, but remains in “deeply pessimistic territory” according to the bank’s senior economist Matthew Hassan.

“Despite the improvement, consumer sentiment remains below its March level and still firmly in deeply pessimistic territory,” he said.

“The survey detail suggests positives from fiscal support measures are being negated by increased concerns about inflation and the outlook for interest rates.”

Wednesday’s CPI numbers could also add to inflation fears.

“Further bad news on inflation will likely be heard tomorrow as the Monthly CPI indicator is expected to show that inflation increased to 3.8 per cent in May from 3.6 per cent prior,” Mr Sycamore said.

“The increase will be driven by base effects and this month’s update skewed towards the sticky services component.

“Ahead of its release, the rates market is pricing in about a 12 per cent chance of a 25 basis point RBA rate hike in August to 4.6 per cent.”

In corporate news, uranium miner Paladin Energy tumbled 5.14 per cent to $12.56 following yesterday’s announcement it would acquire Canadian uranium company Fission Uranium.

The takeover brings Fission’s uranium-rich PLS project in northern Saskatchewan into Paladin’s portfolio.

The top gainer on the ASX200 was Collins Foods, which soared 7.29 per cent to $10.

The KFC operator reported a full-year jump in net profit to $76.7m for FY24, up from $12.7m in FY23.

The largest laggard was gold producer Red 5, which slumped 6 per cent per cent to 38.5c.