All Ords carves record

THE Australian sharemarket climbed steadily after an early dip to propel the All Ordinaries Index of the nation’s top 500 companies to a new alltime high.

The S&P/ASX 200 finished 0.51 per cent stronger at 7058.6 — not far from its record closing high of 7162 on February 20 last year before the COVID-19 pandemic savaged markets — while the All Ordinaries Index jumped 1.2 per cent to 7317.5.

That eclipsed the All Ords’ best-ever closing high of 7255, also on February 20 last year.

CommSec analyst Steve Daghlian said “we’re well into the seventh straight month of gains as well”.

His colleague James Tao said higher commodities prices provided a boost, and the ascent started in earnest after unemployment figures were released.

A second push came later after US futures pointed higher as America’s earnings season kicked off, Mr Tao said.

The labour figures were better than expected, with 70,700 jobs added last month, which beat the forecasts of Commonwealth Bank and most of the 21 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

The jobless rate falling from 5.8 per cent to 5.6 per cent was slightly better than what the market was anticipating and in line with CBA expectations, Mr Daghlian said. “All of the job gains were part-time positions, with about 90,000 parttime jobs added, and we also had around 20,000 full-time jobs lost,” he noted.

OpenMarkets Group chief executive Ivan Tchourilov said the market appeared likely to retest all-time highs in coming days.

Standout sectors were energy and materials.

Oil prices surged about 5 per cent overnight on news of a large draw in stocks.

There was also a “truly bullish oil report from the US”, Axi chief global market strategist Stephen Innes said.

“Indeed, this speaks volumes about the US demand recovery and inventories getting siphoned thanks to OPEC+ supply curtailments,” Mr Innes said.

“Risks remain on the omnipresent COVID concerns, but the agencies so far seem constructive on the oil outlook.

“But make no mistake, the world is still dealing with the second variant.”

Beach Energy rose 2.99 per cent to $1.72, Santos appreciated 2.28 per cent to $7.18, Oil Search lifted 1.25 per cent to $4.05 and Woodside Petroleum firmed 0.79 per cent to $24.35.

Rio Tinto added 2.96 per cent to $117.71, BHP advanced 2.87 per cent to $47.33, Fortescue rallied 3.51 per cent to $20.95, Mineral Resources jumped 3.89 per cent to $45.18 and Nickel Mines Ltd gained 4.82 per cent to $1.30.

Coal producer Whitehaven, however, plummeted 15.45 per cent to $1.56. Orocobre gained 3.52 per cent to $6.18 while OZ Minerals put on 3.29 per cent to $24.50.

The Aussie dollar was fetching 77.2 US cents, 56 British pence and 64.44 Euro cents in afternoon trade.