New home sales in the United States fall short of expectations, providing fresh support for gold prices

Updated to market close Firmus, backed by Nvidia, cancels $5 billion IPO plan; tech stocks see their biggest weekly gain in a week; Benchmark index posts gains for the second consecutive week Jasmeen Ara Islam Shaikh, Reuters, October 9 – Australian stocks rose on Friday as bargain hunters bought shares after a recent benchmark pullback; at the same time, Firmus’s decision to shelve its $5 billion IPO plan triggered an inflow of funds into local software stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 .AXJO rose 0.6% on Friday to close at 8,716.6 points after two consecutive days of declines. For the week, the index rose 0.4%, posting gains for a second straight week. Globally, comments from US President Trump that the US would pause strikes against Iran ahead of the November midterm elections provided a slight lift to market sentiment. Domestically in Australia, markets are closely watching September quarter inflation data to be released later this month, as well as awaiting the Reserve Bank of Australia’s last two policy meetings of the year in November and December. On the day, tech stocks .AXIJ jumped as much as 3.1% after data center operator Firmus, backed by Nvidia NVDA.O, called off its IPO due to lukewarm market response. Maas Group MGH.AX, a 3.2% shareholder in Firmus, resumed trading after a morning halt and saw its shares plunge as much as 10.7%. David Tuckwell, Chief Investment Officer at ETF Shares, said Firmus’s withdrawal was positive for local tech stocks as it kept fund managers’ money in existing listed shares and avoided forced rebalancing for index funds. He added that after extended selling, valuations in the sector were oversold and now operating on their own momentum. However, weak demand for Firmus indicated that investors preferred enterprises with solid performance, rather than shunning tech stocks entirely. WiseTech Global WTC.AX, Xero XRO.AX, and Life360 360.AX rose 4.2%, 3.5%, and 4.1% respectively. As gold prices edged up, gold miners .AXGD gained 1.9%, the sector's biggest gain in more than two weeks. GOL/ Weighed down by softer iron ore and copper prices, the overall mining index dipped 0.2%. IRONORE/ MET/L Financial stocks .AXFJ rebounded 0.5% after declines over the previous two sessions. Energy stocks .AXEJ edged higher by 0.2%, marking four straight gains despite weaker early oil prices. O/R Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 closed up 0.4% at 13,749.35 points. (For the convenience of non-English speakers, Reuters automatically translates its reports into several languages. Due to possible errors or omitted context in automated translations, Reuters does not guarantee the accuracy of such texts and provides them solely for reader convenience. Reuters accepts no liability for any damages or losses resulting from the use of automated translation features.) For more on "Schedules & Data": US earnings calendar RESF/US, Wall Street outlook for the week .N/O, Global economic outlook DATA/ ... See all the latest market headlines and breaking news at NEWS1.