Market Wrap / Good Thursday

Investors on an Easter egg hunt for bargains helped push the S&P/ ASX 200 higher Thursday, despite a negative offshore lead. The index closed 0.8% higher to 7819.10 points.

While headwinds from the US tech sector did hurt IT players locally, most sectors closed in the green, notably energy which rose a solid 3.8%.

Higher crude oil prices provided welcome relief for the likes of Woodside and Santos. The latter managed to advance 2.9% while reporting a 7% drop in its first-quarter sales revenue.

The miners also had a good Thursday, with BHP reaffirming production guidance and finishing 1.1% higher. It was among a raft of companies reporting quarterly updates today, along with PLS, which reaffirmed its FY25 guidance, despite costs rising in the last quarter.

Another day, another record-high gold price saw Northern Star extend its rally, rising 1.2%.

Elsewhere, Star Entertainment fell 9.1%, a day after resuming trade for the first time since February.

Clarity pharma received over $11 million dollars through an R&D tax incentive refund, which sent the stock higher by 13.1%. 

More quarterly updates are expected next week, notably Woodside and ResMed.

Investors will also look at PMIs for April in an even shorter trading week bookended by the Easter long weekend and Anzac Day.