Closing Bell: ASX knocks it out of the park, hitting five straight days of record highs

• ASX closes out week-long rally on new record high of 8938 points
• Market set a new intraday high every day this week
• Broad sector strength, led by financials and materials

From strength to strength

The ASX’s trade performance this week has been nothing short of remarkable.

Today, the ASX 200 lifted by 0.73% or 64.8 points to 8938.6 points, a new all-time high.

Every single trading day this week marked a new intraday high.

In fact, Wednesday was the only day the ASX didn’t finish higher than it started. We can thank CBA’s losses for that one.

An interest rate cut from the RBA, an extended rally on Wall Street, as-expected labour data and some stellar corporate earnings reports were all waving green – or perhaps red? – flags for the bulls this week.

Looking ahead, we’ve got another raft of earnings calls from big names coming up, which could extend the rally further – or sink it.

Keep an eye out for results from Ampol (ASX:ALD), A2 Milk (ASX:A2M), BHP (ASX:BHP), BlueScope (ASX:BSL), Bega Cheese (ASX:BGA), CSL (ASX:CSL), Domain (ASX:DHG), Santos (ASX:STO), Telix Pharma (ASX:TLX) and Zip (ASX:ZIP) next week.

Today’s rally was a team effort, with 9 of 11 sector players doing their part.

No participation awards for consumer staples, which was essentially flat, and info tech, shedding just 0.16pc.

The technology sector has had a rough time of it lately, down 2.39% for the week despite our record breaking performance.

On the other hand, the ASX 200 Resources is back in fine form, recovering from a bit of a slump yesterday with a three-pronged rally.

Gold stocks Meteoric Resources (ASX:MEI), Meeka Metals (ASX:MEK) and Greatland Resources (ASX:GGP) each gained about 5%.

Lithium stocks also made progress. Liontown (ASX:LTR) bumped up 6.2%, while Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) added 2% and Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) about the same.

Iron ore miners Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) ticked up 1.4%, Fortescue (ASX:FMG) 1.3%, BHP (ASX:BHP) 1% and mid cap Mount Gibson Iron (ASX:MGX) jumped 5.3%.

ASX Leaders

Today’s best performing stocks (including small caps):

In the news…

Kaili Resources (ASX:KLR) is joining the hunt for rare earths at three tenements in the Murray Basin of South Australia, readying to drill air core holes of up to 20m deep.

Results from a maiden drilling program on one of the three tenements – Lameroo – peaked at 356 parts per million total rare earths from about 18m of depth, a promising indication of rare earths presence.

Alice Queen (ASX:AQX) has ticked off another milestone at the Horn Island gold project, registering a 15-year mining lease application for the asset.

MD Andrew Buxton says the time is right to advance the project to the next step, as the company has received strong expressions of interest from potential development partners.

Great Western Exploration (ASX:GTE) has defined what it believes is a large volcanic hosted massive sulphide copper-gold system at Yerrida North project.

GTE used a close-spaced ground gravity survey to vector in on the core of the system, which Great Western reckons is similar to the nearby DeGrussa copper mine.

DeGrussa produced up to 300k tonnes of copper concentrate per year during its operation, which ran from 2012 to 2022.

Baby Bunting (ASX:BBN) has hit or exceeded most of its FY25 guidance this year, bumping pro forma net profit after tax up a whopping 228% period on period to $12.1m.

The nursery retailer also lifted total sales 4.7% over the same period to $521.9m and gross margins by 40.2% to 340 basis points – a full 40% above it’s FY25 target.

ASX Laggards

Today’s worst performing stocks (including small caps):

In Case You Missed It

ClearVue Technologies (ASX:CPV) launched an innovative new rooftop solar solution designed for use on metal roofs.

Trigg Minerals (ASX:TMG) has discovered new mineralisation beneath the Flagstaff Formation at Antimony Canyon, indicating an expanded system beyond initial projections.

Asian Battery Metals (ASX:AZ9) has secured the rights to explore a promising copper-gold project in Mongolia.

Last Orders

EMVision Medical Devices (ASX:EMV) is poised to begin a novel stroke care workflow study with a $3m grant from the Australian government. The study will evaluate the telehealth-enabled emu scanner, designed to cut down on scanning and diagnosis time requirements. EMV will be partnering with Titan Pre-hospital Innovation, Australian Stroke Alliance and South Australian Rural Support Service.

Trading Halts

Anson Resources (ASX:ASN) – cap raise
OD6 Metals (ASX:OD6) – cap raise
Sarytogan Graphite (ASX:SGA) – cap raise

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Alice Queen is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.