ASX opens lower despite Israel-Lebanon ceasefire sparking Wall St records
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More news: Australian shares opened lower despite Wall Street climbing to another record high overnight on announcement of a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.
The benchmark ASX 200 index was down by 33.4 points, or 0.37%, to 8,921 at 10:46am AEST. Seven of the 11 sectoral indices opened in the red.
Tech (+1.34%) was the strongest performing sector for a fourth consecutive session, supported by a lift in Life360 (+1.22%), Elsight (+2.79%), Megaport (+3.92%) and Iress (+1.14%).
Zip (+13.17%) was the best performing stock across the ASX 200 after recording a 41.5% jump in third quarter cash earnings before interest and tax.
IGO (+6.41%), PLS (+4.99%), Liontown (+4.83%) and Mineral Resources (+4.53%) were also among the best performers at the open.
Elsewhere, consumer discretionary spending (-0.94%) was the weakest performing sector, weighed down by Wesfarmers (-2.44%), Aristocrat (-1.38%), Harvey Norman (-2.76%) and Super Retail Group (-0.47%).
Evolution Mining (-4.04%), Catalyst Metals (-3.69%), Austal (-3.45%) and Droneshield (-3.30%) were among the worst performers across the ASX 200.
Australian shares set to dip despite Wall St hitting fresh records on ceasefire hopes
The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open lower despite Wall Street notching another record close on Thursday, as a ceasefire announcement between Israel and Lebanon and signs of a stable US labour market boosted investor sentiment.
The numbers: Updated at 7:47am AEST:
- ASX futures: down 10 points to 8,940 points
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.24%, S&P 500 up 0.26%, Nasdaq up 0.40%
- Europe: FTSE 100 up 0.49%, CAC 40 down 0.14%, DAX up 0.36%
- Spot gold: down 0.09% to USD4,785.90 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 2.73% to USD97.52/barrel, US WTI up 1.88% to USD93.00/bbl
- AUD: down 0.14% at 71.57 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 0.26% to USD75,009
The context: The S&P 500 and Nasdaq climbed to another fresh record high, extending a weeklong rally. The Nasdaq gained 0.4%, marking its 12th consecutive positive session and its longest streak of gains since 2009, according to Reuters.
This move followed reports that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 10-day ceasefire deal after Trump said he held “excellent conversations” with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, though neither country has formally confirmed a truce. Trump also said a further round of talks between the US and Iran could take place over the weekend.
On the data front, the US Department of Labor reported initial jobless claims dropped to 207,000 in the week ended 11 April, below economists’ expectations of 215,000 according to Reuters, suggesting labour market conditions remain stable.
On the agenda today, the European Central Bank is scheduled to release the bloc’s current account for February at 6pm AEST, while Eurostat will publish the EU’s February trade balance at 7pm AEST.
