Australian shares lower as Northern Star slides; Origin Energy jumps 5%
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
More news: Australian shares edged lower at the open as gold miner Northern Star led losses and shares in utilities giant Origin Energy rocketed.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 6.1 points, or 0.07%, to 8,596.9 at 10:45am AEST. Seven of the 11 sectoral indices were in the red.
Gold miner Northern Star was the worst performing ASX 200 company, shedding 5.8%, after reporting full-year gold sales at the lower end of its revised-down guidance range.
Meanwhile, the market's largest utilities stock Origin climbed 5%, taking the sector up 2.6%. The rally followed reports over the weekend that its minority-owned UK business Octopus Energy is seeking a stake sale of its technology arm Kraken Technologies.
Gold producer Bellevue Gold rose 5.9% after posting record monthly mining and processing volumes last month. Mineral Resources briefly jumped more than 3%, before paring gains, after announcing two new board members.
ASX to open flat as traders turn to RBA call, US tariff deadline
The news: Australian shares are set to open barely changed on Monday as investors await the latest rates call by the Reserve Bank on Tuesday.
Global trade talks will also be watched closely by traders this week as countries negotiate on US tariffs as President Donald Trump's 9 July deadline approaches.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: flat at 8,583
- Wall Street: closed
- Europe: CAC 40 down 0.75%, DAX down 0.61%, and FTSE 100 flat
- Spot gold: up 0.33% to USD3,337 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 0.31% to USD68.51/bbl, and US WTI down 0.75% to USD66.50/bbl
- AUD: down 0.19% to 65.61 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 0.16% to USD108,880.
The context: With the US market closed on Friday due to the Independence Day public holiday, S&P 500 futures fell 0.6% ahead of a week set to be dominated by tariff headlines.
Several US trading partners are still working to negotiate deals with the Trump administration, with the 90-day suspension on global reciprocal tariffs set to expire on Wednesday.
However, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has indicated that some countries without a trade deal by the 9 July deadline will have the option of a three-week extension to negotiate.
Meanwhile, investors are expecting the RBA to announce a 25-basis-point cut to interest rates on Tuesday, taking the cash rate to 3.6%.
The source: Reuters
