To celebrate the first-ever Melbourne Cup victory by a female jockey, local investors dragged the ASX higher on the back of a three-day losing streak.
Here's a quick recap:
- Interest rates on HOLD at 2%
- S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) up 1.4% to 5,239 points
- ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) up 1.3% to 5,291 points
- AUD/USD at US 71.72 cents
- Iron Ore at US$49.50 a tonne, according to the Metal Bulletin
- Gold at US$1,136.53 an ounce
- Brent oil at US$48.76 a barrel
Despite 'the race that stops the nation' distracting investors and the RBA's decision to keep rates on hold at 2%, the local market was buoyed by stronger leads from US and European markets overnight.
Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) were among the markets biggest winners by volume, climbing between 1.7% and 2.3%.
Supermarket giants Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) and Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) bounced back 1.3% and 0.6%, respectively, from heavy selling pressure over the past fortnight. Following Woolworths shock announcement that its 2016 half-year profit could fall by up to 35%, concerns are growing that the grocery sector will fall into an all-out price war.
Despite heavy selling in its London-listed stocks overnight against a backdrop of falling commodity prices, shares of BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) finished the day 1.0% higher.
Among the top movers on the ASX were OZ Minerals Limited (ASX: OZL) and Transpacific Industries Group Ltd. (ASX: TPI) which each climbed more than 5%. GWA Group Ltd (ASX: GWA) was again the worst-performing ASX 200 stock, falling 6%, following a wrath of analyst downgrades earlier in the week.
Here're Tuesday's top stories:
