The ASX is looking stronger today, climbing 89.10 points or 1.16% to 7,784.90, crossing above its 20-day moving average.
The top-performing stocks today at around 2:30pm were Webjet Ltd and Bellevue Gold Ltd, up 8.17% and 7.88% respectively.
Over the last five days, the index has gained 0.92% and is currently 0.87% off of its 52-week high.
From a sector perspective, it was a sea of green this afternoon, with Financials and Real Estate and Consumer Discretionary the healthiest shade of the colour, rising 1.82%, 1.25% and 1.55% respectively.
The only sectors in the red were Health Care, down 0.10% and Utilities, down 0.37%.
Unemployment down
The big news today was that the unemployment rate fell to 3.7% from 4.1% last month.
Australia's economy added 116,500 jobs in February following a small gain in January and well above the 40,000 gain economists had expected for the month.
The underutilisation rate, combining the unemployment and underemployment rates, fell 0.5 percentage points to 10.3%, 0.9 percentage points higher than its recent low of 9.4% in November 2022 but 3.6 percentage points lower than before the pandemic.
Participation increased by 0.1 percentage point to 66.7% after being revised lower last month.
“The ABS noted that the solid job growth in February followed a larger than usual number of people in December who had a job that they were waiting to start or to return to,” wrote IG’s Tony Sycamore this morning.
“This translated into a larger than-usual flow of people into employment in February, even more so than in February last year.
“With seasonal issues, again evident in the data, it will cause some hesitation in reading too much into the hot headline number.
“That said, it is hard to escape the fact that the unemployment rate, which is probably the cleanest read, has fallen back to 3.7%, where it was six months ago.
“The market will seek further insights into the economy's trajectory and inflation from the following key data ahead of the next RBA Board meeting on May 7.”
The five at five
Titan Minerals takes raising to A$8.17 million after strongly oversubscribed shortfall
Titan Minerals Ltd (ASX:TTM, OTC:TTTNF) has taken total recent capital raising proceeds to approximately A$8.17 million after closing an entitlement offer shortfall significantly oversubscribed.
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Torque Metals to drive gold and lithium drilling with $4.25 million in funding
Torque Metals Ltd (ASX:TOR) has injected $4.25 million into its cash reserves via a placement and a drill-for-equity deal ahead of imminent drilling programs at its New Dawn Lithium Project and Paris Gold Project.
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FireFly Metals finds more wide copper zones at Green Bay in continuing drill program
FireFly Metals Ltd (ASX:FFM) is on course for its September resource update with more high-grade copper-gold intersections from the Green Bay Project in Canada.
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Cooper Metals kicks off RC drilling targeting copper-gold at Brumby Ridge, Mt Isa East Project
Cooper Metals Ltd (ASX:CPM) has the reverse circulation (RC) drill spinning at the Brumby Ridge copper-gold prospect of the Mt Isa East Project in Queensland, targeting a large geochemical anomaly and a separate induced polarisation (IP) anomaly.
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Sunstone Metals appoints experienced resources executive Patrick Duffy as managing director
Sunstone Metals Ltd (ASX:STM) has shuffled its board to allow current managing director Malcolm Norris to focus on growing the company’s discoveries as an executive director, bringing Patrick Duffy into the fold to fill the MD position, effective April 15.
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On your six
Blood test could reveal underlying causes of brain injury in newborns
The Cerebral Palsy Alliance (CPA) has committed funding to a new blood test that can pinpoint the root causes of brain injuries in newborns, after a study achieved “revolutionary” findings.
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The one to watch
Kinetiko Energy outlines major South African onshore gas reserve and exploration plans
Kinetiko Energy Ltd (ASX:KKO, OTC:KKOEF), represented by Richard Wolanski at the Proactive One2One Investor Forum, highlighted its distinctive position with world-class onshore gas reserves in South Africa, setting it apart from other companies presented.
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