ASX closes at a record high as trade talks continue

Australia’s sharemarket continued its record breaking run higher on Wednesday, amid trade hopes between the US and China.

The benchmark ASX 200 index eked out a small gain of 4.90 points or 0.06 per cent to 8,592.10 to continue its record run higher.

The broader All Ordinaries also finished in the green up 6.90 points or 0.08 per cent to 8,819.60.

The Australian dollar slipped 0.23 per cent and is now buying 65.12 US cents.

On Wednesday, shares jumped on the opening bell, surpassing the previous 8,614 mark set on February 14 hitting a high point of 8,639.1, before falling during the afternoon’s session.

Australia’s market ran up off the back of US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick saying the second days of negotiations in London between China and the US had been “productive”.

This saw seven of the 11 sectors still finished higher, led by energy, the major miners and real estate.

Australian iron ore miners were among the major winners on the back of this news, as prices of the commodity rose.

BHP shares jumped 1.48 per cent to $39.05, Rio Tinto rose 0.24 per cent to $109.38, Fortescue leapt 3.45 per cent to $16.21 and Mineral Resources gained 3.17 per cent to $25.71.

Woodside energy led oil stocks higher, up 1.9 per cent to $23.5 while Santos rose 0.60 per cent to $6.70.

CBA mining and energy commodity research director Vivek Dhar said the spot iron ore price fell below $95 a tonne in the days leading up to the talk, before bouncing on news of a temporary pause.

“The agreement at least shows that both sides are keen to keep de‑escalating the trade war,” he wrote in an economic note.

“However, we think any bounce in iron ore prices linked to today’s agreement will be less material than the bounce observed last month after the 90‑day pause on high tariffs.”

The financial sector slid with Commonwealth Bank snapping its record run as it fell 0.3 per cent to $181.40.

NAB shares also traded lower down 0.26 per cent to $39.07. Westpac shares are up 0.39 per cent to $33.63 while ANZ is also in the green up 0.37 per cent $29.94.

In corporate news shares in Qantas declined after announcing it was pulling the pin on its Jetstar Asia Singaporean-based airline.

In an announcement to the ASX, the airline said it is expected to post a $35m underlying Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) loss this financial year, prior to the closure decision.

Buy now, pay later provider Zip shares were the best performing for the second day running after releasing its latest trading update.

Zip said its business continued to see momentum in the month of May, with US total transactions volumes rising by more than 40 per cent year-on-year as well as no material changes to credit loss for the March quarter across its US and Australian business.

Fertility group Monash IVF shares soared 13 per cent, following a 27 per cent drop on Tuesday as the shares began recovering from news of a second major bungle in three months, which led to the wrong embryo being implanted.