Opening up early access to super for housing would have a negative effect on the balances of even those members that don’t dig into their savings, with funds forced to adopt more conservative investment strategies and hold more liquid assets.
The circa $88 billion industry fund for workers in health and community services reckons that alleviating the affordable housing crisis will boost its other investments by easing the cost of living and inflation.
Commodity prices boost local market
Australian shares advanced for a third straight day on Monday, driven by the materials sub-index, which rode rising commodity prices to a 2.2 per cent gain. The S&P/ASX 200 benchmark advanced by 70.3 points, or 1 per cent, to 6964.5, while the broader All Ordinaries index closed up by a similar percentage, lifting 69.2 points to 7208.2.
The commodity action was led by iron ore, which moved back above $US100 a tonne after blast furnaces in China showed signs of returning to full production ahead of the seasonal peak in construction activity. Given this impetus, Fortescue Metals Group climbed 59 cents, or 3.3 per cent, to $18.40, while BHP was up $1.32, or 3.5 per cent, to $39.41; and fellow global bulk miner Rio Tinto advanced $1.68, or 1.8 per cent, to $96.04.Â
Copper-focused Sandfire Resources jumped 15 cents, or 3.6 per cent to $4.35; IGO, which produces nickel, copper, cobalt and lithium, gained 33 cents, or 2.3 per cent, to $14.64, and Mineral Resources, which mines iron ore and lithium, gained $1.57, or 2.2 per cent, to $73.08. Nickel Industries, which produces nickel pig iron, a crucial ingredient in the production of stainless steel, in Indonesia, spiked 6 cents higher, a gain of 6.7 per cent, to 96 cents.
Coal, lithium names retreat
In the pure-play lithium space, producer Allkem eased 42 cents, or 2.6 per cent, to $15.53
Pilbara Minerals gained 7 cents, or 1.6 per cent, to $4.57, after touching a record high of $4.62 in morning trading. Of the lithium project developers, Piedmont Lithium lost 4.5 cents, or 4.8 per cent, to 90 cents; Liontown Resources was down 5.5 cents, or 3 per cent, to $1.75; Core Lithium eased 0.5 cents to $1.59; and Lake Resources was down 3.5 cents, or 2.7 per cent, to $1.26.Â
Among the coal miners, Whitehaven Coal retreated 14 cents, or 1.6 per cent, to $8.60; New Hope Corporation lost 5 cents to $5.49; Yancoal Australia eased 7 cents, or 1 per cent, to $6.84, but Terracom bucked the trend, surging 6.5 cents, or 6.7 per cent, to $1.04, and Stanmore Resources put on 6 cents, or 2.6 per cent, to $2.36.
Some of the gold names had a fruitful day, led by Gold Road Resources, which rose 7 cents, or 5.2 per cent, to $1.43, and De Grey Mining, which added 5.5 cents, or 5.1 per cent, to $1.14.
In the big bank cohort, ANZ improved 31 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to $23.33; Westpac gained 22 cents, or 1 per cent, to $21.47; Commonwealth Bank was up 75 cents, or 0.8 per cent, to $96.28; and National Australia Bank advanced 14 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $29.99. Investment bank Macquarie rose by $3.23, or 1.8 per cent, to $181.06.
CSL was down $2.34, or 0.8 per cent, to $296.30. Telstra was up 2 cents to $3.94, while Wesfarmers gained 54 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to $47.82; and Woolworths retreated 8 cents to $35.89. A2 Milk moved 14 cents, 2.5 per cent higher, to $5.70 after its partner Synlait Milk received continued permission to sell its infant milk formula product in China. Synlait Milk improved by 3 cents, to $3.15.Â
RBA hikes to slow, China remains immune, tech takeovers accelerate
US markets moved higher, with the broad S&P 500 gauge lifting 43 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 4,110.4; the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average up 229.6 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 32,381.3 points; and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index advancing 154.1 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 12,266.4. The US markets are excited by news of Ukrainian success in counter-offensives against Russian forces, and are also waiting for the release of the August consumer price index tonight Australian time, which is expected to show that inflation is moderating.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to announce an interest rate hike next week of 0.75 percentage points, the third in a row. If the inflation data is weaker than expected, some economists say there’s an outside chance the Fed could raise by just 0.5 per cent.
Oil prices rose, with Brent Crude trading US$1.39, or 1.5 per cent, higher at $US94.23 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate up 99 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to US$87.78 a barrel. Gold is up US$6.51 an ounce, or 0.4 per cent, at US$1,724.78 an ounce. The Australian dollar is buying 68.89 US cents, up from 68.81 US cents at yesterday’s local close.
