:::LALKAR GROUP::::

Australia stock market eked out modest gains on Thursday, 02 May 2024, on caution ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) monetary policy announcement, due on May 7, with gains in technology, financial, and material stocks offset losses in consumer staple, telecom, and energy stocks.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index advanced 17.02 points, or 0.22%, to 7,586.97. The broader All Ordinaries index was up 17.56 points, or 0.22%, to 7,849.42.

Total 6 of 11 sectors ended higher along with the S&P/ASX 200 Index. Information Technology was the best performing sector, gaining 0.96%, followed by financial (up 0.72%), industrials (up 0.46%), and materials (up 0.4%), while consumer staples was bottom performer, falling 2.46%.

The best-performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were PEXA GROUP and QUBE HOLDINGS, up 10.95% and 6.71% respectively. The bottom performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were BAPCOR and QUBE BLOCK INC., down 23.86% and 5.55% respectively.

Among individual stocks, Qube Holdings shares soared 6.7 per cent after the company upgraded its profit guidance. The logistics company now expects its net profit and earnings per share to grow between 10 per cent and 15 per cent this financial year, up from the 5 per cent to 10 per cent it had previously predicted.

National Australia Bank added 1.5% after the bank announced a $1.5 billion share buyback.

Supermarket chain Woolworths slumped 4.2% after posting worse than expected financial results for the March quarter and the company flagged rising costs.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Australia?s trade balance shrank to a surplus of A$5.02 billion in March, hit chiefly by a sharp increase in imports, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed. The reading contracted further from the revised A$6.59 billion surplus seen in the prior month.