Wall St closed higher across the major averages on Monday as investors bought back into the AI darlings a week after scepticism rose around the sustainable growth of the sector. The S&P500 gained 0.2%, the Nasdaq rose 0.48% and the Dow Jones ended Monday’s session up 0.15%. Shares of game maker EA Games rallied 4.5% after the company announced it’s going to be taken private in an acquisition worth US$55bn.
In Europe overnight markets closed higher to start the new trading week in the green. The STOXX600 rose 0.34%, Germany’s DAX added 0.02%, the French CAC climbed 0.13% and, in the UK, the FTSE100 ended the day up 0.16%.
Across the Asia region on Monday markets closed mixed with Japan’s Nikkei falling 0.69%, while South Korea’s Kospi index added 1.33%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.9% and China’s CSI index gained 1.54%.
Locally to start the new trading week, a healthcare rebound pushed the ASX to a positive close with the key index rallying 0.9% while the spot price of gold also reset a fresh record, propelling gold miners to new heights.
Defence stocks were all the rage for investors yesterday with DroneShield soaring over 18% while EOS climbed almost 13% amid a tense backdrop in Europe with NATO boosting air-defence assets in response to new drone incursions at a key military base in Denmark last week. EOS also released a sales update yesterday revealing it is expecting full year revenue from existing contracts to be $115m to $125m in FY25 however, new orders could boost this by $25m in addition to its contract backlog with an estimated value of $299m.
Synlait Milk share jumped 15% following the release of the company’s full-year results yesterday. The dairy processor reported a more than twofold increase in underlying EBITDA, reaching NZ$107.2 million for FY 2025. Additionally, Synlait announced an agreement to sell its North Island assets to global healthcare giant Abbott Laboratories in a deal expected to generate around NZ$307 million in proceeds.
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