The announcement that economist Michele Bullock will replace Dr. Phil Lowe as Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has been welcomed with enthusiasm by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
At the close of the week, the ASX200 finished up by 59.9 points (+0.83%) to reach 7306.8 points.
Michele Bullock is well known and well regarded in the finance world and has worked as a deputy governor of the RBA since her appointment in 2018. She has been widely credited with helping the RBA act to reduce the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy through a number of measures, including introducing asset purchases, cutting the cash rate, and allowing banks to reduce loan repayments.
On Friday just before the markets opened, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers officially promoted Ms Bullock from Deputy Governor, and this immediately caused such a surge of activity that the markets stayed lively all day.
Though she is a new beginning for the RBA following significant criticism regarding multiple interest rate hikes, Ms Bullock – a veteran of the organisation with 37 years of service and presently appointed Deputy Chair – has given little indication of she wants to modify its current direction.
Today, healthcare was the only sector that saw a decline, dropping by 0.26 per cent, while the other sectors ended in the green.
Information technology performed the best, increasing by 1.81 per cent, followed by telecommunications and materials, which rose 1.44 and 1.40 per cent respectively. Block Inc was the day’s best performer, rising 5.6 per cent to close at $111.7, and Telix Pharmaceuticals had a close of $11.815, increasing by 5.0 per cent.
Netwealth – a financial services group – saw the steepest decline, ending trading 5.8% lower at $13.6. Domain Holdings came in second with a 2.1% decrease, finishing at $3.7, and Allkem reported a 1.8% dip, ending at $16.4. The S&P 500 mirrored US market trends, advancing 0.85% (37.88 points) and settling at 4,510 points.
