• ASX finished higher on Thursday after a soft opening
  • Oil stocks come under pressure again as crude prices tumble
  • The rebound in Australian housing prices is accelerating, says Corelogic report

 

After opening lower, the ASX200 index finished Thursday up by +0.3%.

Earlier today, the House voted 314-117 and advanced the bill to the Senate.  The outcome is billed as a rare moment of bipartisan accord in a bitterly divided House.

Josh Gilbert, analyst at eToro, is optimistic the deal could boost markets.

“The prospect of a debt-ceiling deal and a pause from the Federal Reserve at its June 15th meeting could help boost US markets in the short term,” he said.

On the ASX, gains in Healthcare and Tech stocks were offset by losses in Energy stocks.

Oil stocks came under pressure again after crude prices fell another -2.5% overnight. Mining stocks were also mostly down today following weaker China data.

“China’s May PMI survey has sparked the latest warning of mounting economic trouble in the region,” said Gilbert.

 

Aussie house prices pick up

The rebound in Australian housing prices is accelerating, with data released today showing national home prices increase by 0.33% in May.

According to the report from CoreLogic, Sydney continues to lead the recovery trend, posting a 1.8% lift in values over the month, recording the city’s highest monthly gain since September 2021.

Brisbane (+1.4%) and Perth (+1.3%) are the only other capitals to record a monthly gain of more than 1.0%, however, the rise in values was broad-based with the rate of growth accelerating across every capital city last month.

CoreLogic’s Research Director, Tim Lawless, noted the positive trend is a symptom of persistently low levels of available housing supply running up against rising housing demand.

“Amid increased competition, auction clearance rates have trended higher, holding at 70% or above over the past three weeks. For private treaty sales, homes are selling faster and with less vendor discounting,” he said.

Despite the recent gains, most housing markets are still recording housing values that are well below recent peaks.

 

Source Core: Logic

 

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Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) regained some of its 20pc loss on Tuesday, up by 10.5% today. Paladin had fallen on news that Namibia was considering taking minority stakes in mining and petroleum production companies, which turned out to be incorrect.

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BHP (ASX:BHP) was down -0.10% today after admitting it underpaid a large number of its current and former employees in Australia.

Based on currently available information, BHP estimated that the cost of remediating the leave issue and the contracting issue will be up to US$280 million pre tax, incorporating on costs including associated superannuation and interest payments.

BHP is continuing to investigate and an update will be provided in its full year results in August.

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