ASX surges to 19-month high
Investors have started the new year in the ebullient mood they ended the last one in, driving the local sharemarket to its highest close since June 2015.
Jens is the markets and breaking news editor, based in Sydney.
Investors have started the new year in the ebullient mood they ended the last one in, driving the local sharemarket to its highest close since June 2015.
Stocks flatline as the early Santa rally runs out of puff, while gold stocks and Mayne Pharma plunge.
Business conditions have fallen to their lowest level in 19 months and consumer confidence has plunged.
Brace for the first quarter of negative economic growth in five years, and only the fourth in Australia's enviable run of 100 quarters without a recession.
RBA chief Philip Lowe is likely to take his predecessor's lead and "chill out" at the last board meeting of the year.
A rotation out of highly-priced growth stocks back into steadier blue chips looks set to continue but not all are expected to benefit.
Macquarie says markets are underestimating the full force of earnings upgrades in the mining sector and are too negative on the banks.
Shares lurched higher as the frantic "Trump trades" that shook up financial markets over the past week faded further.
A big jump in job creation masks a concerning trend in underemployment say economists.
Shares finished the day broadly flat as selling in the major miners offset gains in bank and energy stocks.
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