Stock Market

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX:A2M), which rose 14.55% or 0.74 points to trade at 5.79 at the close. Meanwhile, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) added 9.23% or 0.03 points to end at 0.35 and Reliance Worldwide Corporation Ltd (ASX:RWC) was up 5.67% or 0.25 points to 4.66 in late trade.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were IGO Ltd (ASX:IGO), which rose 7.84% or 0.54 points to trade at 7.43 at the close. Meanwhile, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) added 7.51% or 0.26 points to end at 3.72 and Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX:OBL) was up 7.28% or 0.11 points to 1.62 in late trade.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Altium Ltd (ASX:ALU), which rose 28.91% or 14.82 points to trade at 66.08 at the close. Meanwhile, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) added 10.17% or 0.03 points to end at 0.33 and Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) was up 9.09% or 0.03 points to 0.30 in late trade.

Despite the downgrade, the firm acknowledges GoDaddy’s approximately 50% stock appreciation since the third-quarter report of 2023. This surge is credited to management’s focus on profitability improvements and strategies aimed at enhancing shareholder value. These factors are expected to continue providing support to the stock’s valuation.

The worst performers of the session were JGC Corp. (TYO:1963), which fell 17.45% or 301.00 points to trade at 1,423.50 at the close. Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. (TYO:3863) declined 15.71% or 222.00 points to end at 1,191.00 and Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd. (TYO:5202) was down 9.59% or 58.00 points to 547.00.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Fujikura Ltd. (TYO:5803), which rose 23.85% or 300.00 points to trade at 1,558.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Nisshinbo Holdings Inc. (TYO:3105) added 9.24% or 115.00 points to end at 1,359.50 and SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984) was up 8.72% or 641.00 points to 7,991.00 in late trade.

Gold prices fell within a holding pattern after robust U.S. economic data and a chorus of hawkish Federal Reserve comments saw markets largely price out expectations for early interest rate cuts this year. 

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Appen Ltd (ASX:APX), which rose 10.19% or 0.03 points to trade at 0.30 at the close. Meanwhile, Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX:OBL) added 7.35% or 0.10 points to end at 1.46 and Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) was up 6.37% or 0.05 points to 0.83 in late trade.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said that the bank engaged in unsafe or unsound practices, including failure to establish effective risk management and internal controls.