Retail Sales Slide But Markets Hit Record High: ASX Market Recap 28th March

Welcome to Equity Espresso’s Daily Recap. Markets will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Monday, so our next market recap will be out next Tuesday. Have a great Easter!

The Australian share market hit a record close on Thursday with a sea of green on the boards. The ASX 200 index finished 0.99% or 77.3 pts. higher to close at 7,896.90, passing its previous record of 7,847 set on March 8.

Materials (+1.80%) was the best-performing sector on the day, with a rebound in resource prices sending commodities stocks higher. Gold prices held just below US$2,200/oz on Thursday, hovering near all-time highs. Northern Star Resources (+1.69%), Evolution Mining (+1.71%) and Sandfire Resources (+3.25%) all finished higher. Mining giants BHP Group (+1.35%), Fortescue (+2.03%) and Rio Tinto (+0.69%) all saw gains on the day.

The Real Estate (+1.80%) sector rose again on Thursday, making it the best-performing sector for the month, up 11.67%. Goodman Group (+1.93%) shares continue to climb, followed by Scentre Group (+0.89%) and Stockland (+1.89%). Goodman Group shares are now up by over 80% in the last 12 months, making it the second-best performer of the companies in the ASX 100 behind only James Hardie Industries (+88.76%).

Telco. (+1.45%), Utilities (+1.29%) and Industrials (+1.09%) were some of the other significant movers as all sectors closed in the green, with Financials (+0.38%) and Technology (+0.40%) gaining the least.

Australian retail sales increased by 0.3% month-over-month in February 2024, slowing from a 1.1% growth in January and less than market forecasts of 0.4%. Sales slowed in the below categories:

• Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway (+0.5% vs +1.4% Jan.)

• Food (-0.1% vs 0%)

• Household goods retailing (-0.8% vs +2.1%)

• Other retailing (-0.4% vs +1.8%)

Sales accelerated in:

• Department stores (+2.3% vs +1.8%)

• Clothing, Footwear and personal accessory retailing (+4.2% vs +2.5%)

Now to company news, Beach Energy (+3.67%) shares rose after it said it would axe 30% of staff as part of a restructuring. Ramelius Resources (+3.05%) confirmed today that discussions regarding a potential takeover of Karora Resources had concluded, with no deal eventuating. Fisher & Paykel (-2.75%) shares fell after it announced it was voluntarily recalling a limited number of batches of its Airvo 2 and myAirvo 2 devices manufactured before August 14, 2017