ASX ekes out gains on Trump’s latest move

Cautious investors helped drive the Australian sharemarket higher on the back of a retreat in US treasury yields and low trading volumes.

The benchmark ASX200 index finished slightly higher, up 12.20 points or 0.15 per cent to finish the week up 8,360.90.

Meanwhile, the broader All Ordinaries also finished in the green up 15.30 points or 0.18 per cent to 8,586.70.

The Aussie dollar is trading around US64.34c.

On Wall Street overnight, there was a sizeable reversal in the US10-year yield which helped drive the overseas market higher.

This helped drive a mixed day on the Australian market.

Six sectors finished in the green, while five fell, with the gains led by information technology and energy stocks.

WiseTech jumped 1.33 per cent to $100.05, while it was a good day for Technology One Limited, up 1.61 per cent to $38.61 and Life360 which grew 1.08 per cent to $31.56.

It was also a strong day for the financial sector, with all four major banks rising during Friday’s trading.

Commonwealth Bank jumped 0.65 per cent to $173.84, while NAB was up 0.88 per cent to $37.70, ANZ finished 0.76 per cent higher at $29.07 and Westpac eked out a gain up 0.064 per cent to $31.24.

Meanwhile the nuclear energy sectors were the major winners driving the energy sector.

Boss Energy was the best performing share on the local bourse surging 12.12 per cent to $3.98 while Deep Yellow jumped 8.260 per cent to $1.24 and Paladin Energy finished 6.654 per cent higher to $5.77.

The surge in uranium stocks came on the back of the latest White House executive order aimed at jump-starting the nuclear energy industry.

Moomoo market strategist Jessica Amir said the Australian uranium players grew despite not having direct exposure to the US market.

“The companies that are operating in Australia aren’t really selling to the US, but a rising tide lifts all boats,” Ms Amir said.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re going to be beneficiaries of what he’s announced, but I will say we need to consider who the biggest companies in this space are … including Constellation Energy and Vistra.”

Despite the overall jump in shares, Ms Amir said it was many defensive sectors including gold miners that were helping to drive the ASX on Friday.

“The theme of the week is government debt and of course the White House is closer to passing the ‘big beautiful Bill’, which potentially will see them increase the debt limit while also cutting taxes,” she said.

In corporate news, shares in Origin Energy fell 1.1 per cent to $11.05 after flagging LNG price cuts which will impact future profitability.

Shares in retailer Myer leapt 5.41 per cent to $0.78 on Friday after the department store owner reported growth in its own stores, while its newly acquired Apparel Brands from Premier Investment saw revenue slide.