Market Close 02 Dec 24: Aussie stocks flirt with fresh record
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How did December’s market close compare to the year’s best month?
A listener production.
We've just wrapped up the second best month of the entire year, but the US market fared even better.
And find out if the Aussie share market is fired up for summer.
Good afternoon, I'm Steve.
I'm Laura.
It's Monday the second of December. Welcome to the Comsec Market Update. Well it sounds like you're fired up for summer, even if the market's not necessarily today.
Look, it kind of is. Even though we're only up by less than a tenth of one percent, we're gonna take the win, okay? I'm still gonna say it's been a positive start to the new week and the new month.
Please, you do you, my friend, because the market did lift last week as well by about half a percent. We hit two fresh record highs last week as well. We just had our second best month of the entire year. The US market had its best month of 2024. It was up 5.7% in November.
What did the latest property price data reveal about Australian housing markets?
So partly helped by Donald Trump's win, the hope for tax cuts and less regulation. That was enough to offset all those worries about tariffs. And the fact he might not be getting along with a few countries for the next four years.
There's been plenty of economic data around today. Our chief economist Ryan Felsman has been very busy reporting all of that data. But look, the share market did actually get eleven points away from the record high that we hit last week at our best level of the day, which was just up by a tenth of one percent. But as I mentioned, still an improvement nonetheless.
And you mentioned some economic data. We had some figures on home prices today, which rose for a 22nd straight month in November. But must be said it was a very small lift, 0.1% nationally. That was the slowest monthly pace of growth in property prices since January 2023. And it depends where you look as well. That was really driven by Perth, Adelaide, and Brisbane. Prices actually went backwards in Melbourne for an eighth straight month. So the trend has been going, um, heading lower. And Sydney also had a little bit of a decline, the third straight monthly decline for Sydney property prices, which are still, you know, very expensive compared to the rest of the country, but maybe just a sign that plenty of stock entering the market and not enough demand to keep up with that.
How did October retail sales and Black Friday affect consumer spending trends?
We also had an update on retail sales here in Australia. So basically, how much we've been spending at the shops over October. The lift was 0.6% month on month. The expectation was a lift of 0.4%. So it was a bit stronger in October than we expected. Retailers said that sales activity grew ahead of Black Friday sales. So that was stronger than usual for October as well. retailers actually enticing buyers to spend early with discounting particularly on discretionary items. But of course that is a lift from zero point one percent back in September. So there is a the expectation that perhaps after this sales period that spending could drop back. So after December perhaps.
And we've been speaking about this that we've noticed uh quite a few retailers um discounting and putting their sales up as well uh a bit earlier than previously. So that's perhaps provided a bit of a boost. Black Friday, of course, last Friday has just gone by. Cyber Monday today. So the next, you know, four or five weeks, most important time of the year for the most part for most retailers.
Why did GQG Partners’ shares plunge after a target‑price cut?
So consumer discretionary stocks actually were amongst the better performers, lifting about zero point seven one percent and that takes the gain since the start of this year to about uh twenty two percent.
Yeah, so if we have a look at what happened across some of the retailers, Harvey Norman up by half a percent, JB Hi Fi up by a third. We've also got Maya shares up by almost thirteen percent today.
So obviously Maya really standing out there. Reports that it's extending the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales to Wednesday a couple of days uh longer than most. So again, a sign perhaps that they just want to make this last as long as possible. And maybe they're noticing that uh it's resonating with their shoppers.
Look, I've been inundated with marketing messages.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
How did December’s market close compare to the year’s best month?
0:02–0:53
2
What did the latest property price data reveal about Australian housing markets?
0:53–2:07
3
How did October retail sales and Black Friday affect consumer spending trends?
2:07–3:10
4
Why did GQG Partners’ shares plunge after a target‑price cut?
3:10–4:15
5
What drove De Grey Mining’s 28% jump and its gold‑acquisition news?
4:15–5:38
6
What is the status of Telstra’s Boost Mobile acquisition and how did the market react?
5:38–6:48
7
What key economic releases and market outlook should investors watch this week?
6:48–8:24
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from CommSec Market Update
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PM 24 Sep 26: ASX reacts to higher unemployment
AM 24 Sep 26: Wall Street tumbles as bond yields surge
PM 23 Sep 26: Market holds breath ahead of jobs data
AM 23 Sep 26: Nasdaq hits fresh record as oil drops below $100