ASX opens lower as miners retreat; Newmont and Woodside rally
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More news: Australian shares lowered at the open as miners pared recent gains, offsetting a jump in energy stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 44.4 points, or 0.51%, to 8,665 at 10:45am AEST. Eight of the 11 sectoral indices were in the red.
Miners were the worst performing segment, losing 1.2% after seeing strong gains in recent sessions. Iron ore heavyweights Fortescue (-1.8%), BHP (-1.5%) and Rio Tinto (-1.4%) all retreated, while Champion Iron (-4.5%) was the worst performing ASX 200 stock.
Gold miner Newmont (+3.7%) was the best performer after recording a 9% lift in net income for the second quarter, and unveiling a $4.6 billion share repurchase program.
Oil giant Woodside Energy (+1.4%) also climbed, taking the wider energy sector up 1.1%.
ASX to open lower as US stocks rise on renewed AI optimism
The news: Australian shares are poised to fall at the open despite gains on Wall Street overnight, as Google parent Alphabet spurred a rally by tech megacaps, helping the S&P 500 and Nasdaq seal new record highs.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: down 37 points to 8,639 points
- Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.70%, S&P 500 up 0.07%, and Nasdaq up 0.18%
- Europe: CAC 40 down 0.41%, DAX up 0.23%, and FTSE 100 up 0.85%
- Spot gold: down 0.55% to USD3,369 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 0.20% to USD68.50/bbl, and US WTI up 1.41% to USD66.17/bbl
- AUD: down 0.10% to 65.95 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 0.02% to USD118,806.
The context: The S&P 500 and Nasdaq lifted to fresh record highs as Alphabet shares jumped 1% after the tech giant beat second-quarter estimates on Wednesday.
The search giant boosted confidence in other heavyweight AI stocks, as Nvidia (+1.7%), Amazon (+1.7%) and Microsoft (+1%) all advanced.
However, electric car maker Tesla shed 8.2% after CEO Elon Musk warned the company could have "a few rough quarters" following a disappointing second-quarter result.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell clashed on camera during a tour of the central bank's new renovations. Trump claimed that the total cost of the construction work was USD3.1 billion ($4.7 billion), a higher figure than had previously been reported.
The president also used the opportunity to press the Fed for lower interest rates amid expectations the central bank will hold rates steady next week.
