ASX200 snaps three-day losing streak on IT fever, Wall St rebound

A Wall Street rebound and surge in local IT stocks lifted the sharemarket on Tuesday to snap a three-day losing streak.

The benchmark ASX200 rose 39.4 points, or 0.5 per cent, to close at 7971.1, while the broader All Ordinaries index climbed 42.2 points, or 0.52 per cent, to settle at 8208.6.

Tech stocks jumped 1.41 per cent to 3116.9.

Nine of 11 industry sectors ended in the green, led by the IT sector with a 1.62 per cent rise.

Computershare jumped 2.18 per cent to $26.67 a share, Wisetech Global lifted 2.2 per cent to $96.17 and Xero rose 1.79 per cent to $135.90.

The positive session ended a three-day losing streak for the local bourse, which had tipped into the red on last week’s CrowdStrike chaos and an extended tumble in mining stocks.

Wall St rose overnight Monday, propelled by a 4.76 per cent surge in chip giant Nvidia.

The Dow Jones jumped 128 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 40,415 points, while the S and p 500 jumped 1.08 per cent to 5564.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq surged 1.58 per cent to 18,007.

“The tech sector led gains on Wall Street on reports Nvidia is working on an export-compliant AI chip for China,” IG markets analyst Tony Sycamore said.

“The positive sentiment flowed through to local IT stocks.”

While tech led the day, the energy and materials sectors continued to trend downwards.

The energy sector lost 2.03 per cent, led by a sharp 3.74 per cent fall in oil and gas giant Woodside Energy to $27.53.

The company hit a one-month low following Monday’s 2.1 per cent fall.

Tepid growth and housing data from China last week continued to weigh on iron ore prices, which fell 2.3 per cent to about $101 per tonne on the Singapore Futures exchange on Tuesday.

The big miners retreated, with Fortescue losing 1.44 per cent, Rio Tinto declining 0.56 per cent to $113.81 and BHP shedding 0.43 per cent to $41.46.

The big banks posted gains, with Commonwealth Bank rising 1.11 per cent to $133.14, Westpac lifting 0.9 per cent to $28.32, ANZ climbing 0.75 per cent to $29.71 and NAB rising 1.19 per cent to $37.36.

In corporate news, buy now, pay later company Zip surged 6.19 per cent to $1.80 after it rejoined the ASX200 on Monday, which will require funds that track the index to add the firm to their portfolios.

Toll operator Transurban announced it would partner with the Queensland government to widen the western section of the Logan Motorway, a major freight route in the state.

Its shares lifted 1.33 per cent to $12.93 on the news.

The top gainer on the ASX200 was PolyNovo Limited, which soared 7.9 per cent to $2.60 after announcing an expected 57.5 per cent jump in revenues to $104.8m.

Chairman David Williams said the “enormous need” for the company’s products in conflict zones and developing had helped drive the uplift.

The biggest laggard was Woodside Energy.

The Aussie dollar lost 0.18 per cent to buy US66.3c at the closing bell.