The Australian sharemarket clawed back early losses on Friday after the local benchmark was buoyed by gains in Utilities and Energy sectors due to higher oil prices.
But the rise wasn’t enough to offset four consecutive days of losses earlier in the week, with the ASX recording its biggest weekly loss since August 2022.
After falling to a six-month low early in the trading session, the S & P/ASX 200 climbed just 0.1 per cent or 3.6 points to 7,058.8.
The All Ordinaries was also down at the start of trading, before edging up 0.1 per cent or 3.4 points to 7,270.
Six of the 11 sectors finished in the green at the closing bell, while Property and Health sectors fell 1.4 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively.
Energy sector heavyweights Santos jumped 0.7 per cent to $7.64, Woodside rallied 0.6 per cent to $36.25, and Beach energy jumped 0.3 per cent to $1.63.
The results for the major banks were mixed. Westpac was up 0.7 per $21.14, NAB jumped 0.5 per cent to $28.88, but Commonwealth Bank fell 0.02 per cent to $100.06, and ANZ was down 0.1 per cent to $25.03.
Iron ore miners were also disparate. Rio Tinto fell 1.2 per cent to $113.57, BHP rose 0.24 per cent $44.34, and 1.5 per cent to $20.81.
In company news, Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson issued a customer apology and promised to restore the public’s trust in the embattled national carrier. Still, shares were unchanged at $5.31.
“I know that we have let you down in many ways and for that, I am sorry,” Ms Hudson said in a video message.
“We haven’t delivered the way we should have. And we’ve often been hard to deal with.”
At Chevron’s Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG facilities, the Australian Workers’ Union and the Maritime Union of Australia called off strikes, after winning an in-principle agreement on “substantial improvements” in pay and conditions with the energy giant.
Revealing that its chair Rupert Murdoch would make way for his eldest son Lachlan, News Corp jumped 2.2 per cent. Murdoch senior will continue to serve the media giant as chairman emeritus.
Overnight, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan kept rates on hold.
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