PM 01 Jun 26: Softer June start for ASX

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CommSec Market Update 10 min 2 speakers 5 chapters transcribed 3 months ago
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

Unknown 0:02
a listener production.
Laura Bessarati 0:06
The Aussie market kicked off the week and month on a softer note. And what should investors be watching this week? Good afternoon. I'm Laura Bessarati.

What are the initial market conditions for the ASX in June?

Laura Bessarati 0:16
It's Monday, the 1st of June. Welcome to the CommSec Market Update. Well, everyone, it's been a bit of a softer start to the new week and month. So at the moment, the Aussie market is just edging lower by a couple of points. We were down a little bit more earlier on in the session, but it looks like we're almost completely flat as we get closer to the end of the day. We have investors really watching the developments between the US and Iran. So if you remember on Friday, we had a really good session. The ASX 200 index surged 1.6%. It rose to a three-week high. It was also our best day in seven weeks. So there was a little bit of optimism that perhaps the US and Iran were getting closer to a 60-day ceasefire deal.
Laura Bessarati 1:06
So there were hopes that would be around the corner. So over the weekend, I guess investors were a little bit optimistic that that might happen, but we haven't seen any breakthroughs just yet. So markets are kind of, you know, just sitting tight, waiting until the next update. We did hear that the US and Iran reportedly exchanged a number of messages over the weekend aiming to to make changes to the draft agreement, which could potentially extend that ceasefire and open the Strait of Hormuz. But at this stage, there's essentially no updates yet. So I think markets are just a little bit cautious and also ahead of some key things coming up this week as well. So a bit of a softer note to open the week and month.
Laura Bessarati 1:49
But if we do look back, yes, we had that really good session on Friday. If we didn't have that solid performance, we actually would have fallen over the course of May. So we ended May higher by 0.8%. That's all thanks to Friday's improvement. If we have a look at what the US did, of course, it wrapped up the month on Friday night. They significantly outperformed us here in Australia. We saw all US major indices notch further. fresh record highs on Friday night, which means they ended May at all time highs. And that's largely because of the enthusiasm around AI, which really fueled the rally in tech stocks. Remember, about a third of the S&P 500 index is made up of tech stocks. And of course, the tech heavy Nasdaq is full of tech names as well.
Laura Bessarati 2:39
But if you do want more On what happened in May, make sure you tune in to my month in review video, which I filmed today, and you can find that on the ComSec YouTube channel.

What factors are influencing investor sentiment this week?

Laura Bessarati 2:48
But looking back to today, look, most sectors are actually falling. We're seeing three that are improving. Tech is the big standout here. It's up by 5.5%. It's actually on track for its best day in about six weeks. And they're really following gains that we saw in the United States on Friday night. We're also seeing materials being a bit of a bright spot. And energy was actually lower this morning after oil prices plunged by nearly 12% over the course of last week. That saw oil prices hit their lowest level since mid-April. April, but during today's session, they have rebounded and so have energy stocks. So they're just edging higher by about a third of 1%. On the flip side, all of the other sectors are lower and we are seeing healthcare down most.
Laura Bessarati 3:39
It's down 1.7%. And it was the worst performer over the course of May as well when it fell by 9%. So just extending those declines, today it seems to be weighed by CSL, ResMed and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare. Looking at some of the big stock price movements today, there's been quite a few of them. So starting with the winners, tech stocks have been on an absolute tear, which is why the tech sector as a whole is doing well. So the likes of WiseTech, TechnologyOne, Xero, Live360, they're all near the top of today's winners list. And also Technology One had one of its major shareholders up their stake in the company from around 5% to around 6%. So that provided a nice little extra boost.

How did US-Iran negotiations impact the Australian market?

Laura Bessarati 4:27
The best performer, though, has been hotel commerce platform Sightminder.

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