Source: Krish Capital Pty Ltd

Index Update: The Australian sharemarket ended Friday in positive territory, mirroring Wall Street’s gains as expectations of a US rate cut gathered pace. The S&P/ASX 200 rose 44.70 points, or 0.51%, to close at 8,871.20, trimming some of the heavy losses seen earlier in September. Despite the rally, the benchmark is still down 1.14% over the past five sessions and sits 2.02% below its 52-week high. Nine of the eleven sectors finished higher, led by A-REITs, which jumped 1.38% after recent declines, while Consumer Discretionary and Information Technology climbed 1.33% and 1.18%, respectively. Energy (-0.28%) and Consumer Staples (-0.31%) were the only laggards.

Macro Update: Australia recorded its second consecutive quarterly drop in secondary jobs, with numbers falling 1.2% to 1.0 million in the June quarter 2025, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). This marked the first back-to-back quarterly decline in six years, leaving 40,100 fewer multiple job-holders compared to the December quarter 2024. Through the year to June, secondary jobs were down 1.9% or 20,500. The share of people holding multiple jobs slipped 0.1 percentage points to 6.4%. Seasonally adjusted data showed total jobs rose 0.3% to 16.3 million, filled jobs gained 0.2% to 16.0 million, vacant job proportion edged up to 2.1%, multiple job-holders dropped 1.3% to 948,900, and hours worked increased 0.3% to 6.0 billion hours.

Top Market Movers: HMC Capital Limited (ASX: HMC) led the gains on Friday, rising 10.29% to close at AUD 3.75, followed by Polynovo Limited (ASX: PNV) up 8.16% at AUD 1.53 and Mesoblast Limited (ASX: MSB) climbing 6.53% to AUD 2.12. On the downside, Lynas Rare Earths Limited (ASX: LYC) fell 3.04% to AUD 14.35, Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) slipped 2.48%, and Viva Energy Group Limited (ASX: VEA) dropped 1.91%.

Commodity Update: The dollar steadied on Friday as bond markets calmed, and investors awaited key U.S. jobs data that could strengthen the case for a Fed rate cut. Commodities were mixed: gold edged up 0.07% to USD3,609.10, silver rose 0.15% to USD41.48, and copper gained 0.45% to USD9,935.45. Brent crude fell 0.30% to USD66.38, marking its third straight decline ahead of the OPEC+ meeting on potential output hikes.

Our Stance: The Australian sharemarket ended Friday higher, with the S&P/ASX 200 adding 0.51% to 8,871.20, though still down 1.14% for the week. Gains were broad-based, led by A-REITs (+1.38%), Consumer Discretionary (+1.33%) and Technology (+1.18%), while Energy and Consumer Staples declined. ABS data showed secondary jobs fell for a second consecutive quarter, hinting at labour market softening despite total jobs and hours worked rising. Market participants may view this as supporting a near-term rate cut case, aligning with global easing expectations. Continued volatility is likely as macro data and the upcoming U.S. jobs report shape market sentiment into September.

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