Australian shares close higher on consumer, tech strength; JB Hi-Fi surges

Harvey Norman Holdings

12/08/2024 07:34

* 
      JB Hi-Fi top gainer on ASX200
    

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      CAR Group adds 4.5%
    

        * 
      CBA & National Australia Bank to report later this week
    

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      RBNZ cash rate due Wednesday; July unemployment data for
Australia due Thursday 
    

  
 (Updates to close)
    By Sherin Sunny and Ayushman Ojha
       Aug 12 (Reuters) - Australian shares ended higher for a
second-straight session on Monday, as gains in consumer and
technology stocks outweighed losses in resources stocks, with
retailer JB Hi-Fi emerging as the top gainer to kick off a week
busy with corporate earnings. 
    The S&P/ASX 200 index  .AXJO  closed 0.5% higher at 7,813.7
points. 
    Home entertainment retailer JB Hi-Fi  JBH.AX  hit a record
high and closed 8.3% higher, after it announced a special
dividend and reported better-than-expected annual results.
    "JB Hi-Fi's trading update is stronger than market
expectations and increased inventory suggests management is
confident of growth in fiscal 2025," analysts at Citi said in a
note. 
    The retailer's update backed gains in peers such as Super
Retail  SUL.AX  and Harvey Norman  HVN.AX , which respectively
ended 5% and 3.7% higher. 
    Online vehicle marketplace business CAR Group  CAR.AX ,
formerly known as Carsales, added 4.5% after its annual revenue
jumped to A$1.1 billion ($724.02 million). 
    Among stocks dragging the benchmark, Beach Energy  BPT.AX 
ended over 12% lower after the firm, backed by local businessman
Kerry Stokes, reported lower earnings and shocked investors with
a big downgrade in gas reserves at a field in Victoria. 
    Rail operator Aurizon  AZJ.AX  fell to its lowest level in
more than 16 months after it forecast underwhelming 2025
earnings and missed profit expectations.
    Among sub-indexes, financials  .AXFJ  advanced 0.9% with the
"Big Four" banks gaining between 0.6% and 1% as local
unemployment data later in the week is set to show that the
central bank would continue to hold interest rates and not hike.
    Technology stocks  .AXIJ  rose 1.9% with IT-major Xero
 XRO.AX  and software services provider Wisetech Global  WTC.AX 
gaining 1.4% and 2.7%, respectively, tracking Western peers.
    Mining  .AXMM  and energy shares  .AXEJ , the two major
commodity stocks, closed in the negative territory.   
    New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index  .NZ50  closed 0.3%
higher at 12,281.3 points, with investors awaiting the central
bank's cash rate decision due later in the week.

($1 = 1.5193 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Sherin Sunny and Ayushman Ojha in Bengaluru;
Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
 ((Sherin.Sunny@thomsonreuters.com))
 
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