Firming expectations of rising interest rates helped to push the Australian dollar higher and continued boosting the share prices of miners, particularly those involved in gold extraction.
By the end of trade on Friday, the ASX 200 Index was up 11.4 points, or 0.1%, at 8,860.10 points.
However, it was a mixed market, with three strong sectors solely responsible for the rise, while eight sectors slid lower.
Over a week marked by rising geopolitical tensions and a stronger than expected jobs market with falling unemployment, the ASX 200 slid by 0.5%.
Money markets predict rates will rise
The stronger job market caused a rapid firming in interest rate expectations, with money markets now pricing in a 61% chance of the Reserve Bank hiking the cash rate in February.
It also pushed the Australian dollar to a 16-month high against the US dollar, reaching a high of US68.53¢, and strengthened against most major currencies.
Technology steals the show
Technology was the star performer on the market with Life360 (ASX: 360) the most impressive example, with its shares surging 27.4% to $33.70 after raising its full-year guidance.
The family-tracking app, which has close to 100 million monthly active users, now expects revenue in the range of $US486 million to $US489 million.
It wasn’t a sole effort, with NextDC (ASX: NXT) shares rising 2.7% to $13.32, and Xero (ASX: XRO) shares rising 3.5% to $101.22.
Record gold price pushes miners higher
Gold continued to set new records, hitting a high of $US4,964.99 an ounce as a weakening US dollar maintained investors' “safe haven” enthusiasm for the shiny metal.
That translated into firmer gold shares with Northern Star (ASX: NST) shares up 5.4% to $27.60, Regis Resources (ASX: RRL) shares up 10.2% to $8.35 and Greatland Resources shares (ASX: GGP) up 7.6% to $13.94.
Banking stocks hit reverse after rising on Thursday with Commonwealth Bank shares (ASX: CBA) down 0.8% to $149.48, ANZ shares (ASX: ANZ) down 0.5% to $36.21, Westpac shares (ASX: WBC) down 0.4% to $38.74 and National Australia Bank shares (ASX: NAB) falling 0.2% to $42.35.
The big miners had a mixed day with Rio Tinto shares (ASX: RIO) down 1.5% to $148.72, BHP shares (ASX: BHP) up 0.7% to $48.43 and Fortescue shares (ASX: FMG) rose 0.14% to $21.51.
Fast food action
Guzman y Gomez (ASX: GYG) had a solid day in the kitchen, with its shares up 3.8% to $23.30 after it announced a multi-year exclusive delivery partnership with Uber Eats in Australia from February 22.
Even shares in its flagging fast food competitor Domino’s Pizza Enterprises (ASX: DMP) firmed 0.9% to $24.35 after new ASIC data showed that it had become the most shorted stock on the index, with 17.3% of all shares reported to be in a short position.
Also having a great day were shareholders in IperionX (ASX: IPX) as its shares rallied 7.5% to $8.37, meaning the stock has gained more than 15% for the week.
The company has received an order from American Rheinmetall to produce lightweight titanium components for US Army heavy ground combat vehicles.
The week ahead
The big news for the coming week will be on the inflation front which is the last domino to fall before the RBA decides whether to raise interest rates at its February meeting.
The RBA’s preferred measure of core inflation – the trimmed mean consumer price index (CPI) – is expected to rise by a solid 0.9% in the December quarter with the annual growth rate expected to accelerate to 3.3% from the prior quarter’s 3.0% pace.
Confirmation that underlying inflation pressures are strong will likely be enough to see the RBA hike the cash rate at its February meeting.
Meanwhile, meetings of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) and the Bank of Canada (BOC) are both expected to keep their official interest rates steady.
For Australian companies there are a swag of quarterly updates due this week for many miners and explorers while in the US the fourth quarter earnings season continues.
