ASX opens higher led by mining stocks, G8 Education plunges
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More news: Australian shares opened higher, supported by gains across the mining, energy and healthcare sectors.
The benchmark ASX 200 index was up by 39.9 points, or 0.45%, to 8,910 at 10:47am AEDT. Ten of then 11 sectoral indices opened in the green.
Mining (+1.24%) was the strongest performing sector at the open, driven by BHP (+1.57%), Rio Tinto (+1.96%), Northern Star (+1.44%) and South32 (+2.42%).
Treasury Wine Estate (+5.60%) was among the best performers across the ASX 200 after reporting developments related to proposed expansions of ASIC's powers following Shield and First Guardian obligation failures.
PLS Group (+4.07%) climbed after signing a two-year offtake agreement with Canmax Technologies for the supply of spodumene concentrate.
Financials (-0.47%) was the only sector trading lower, with the fall led by CBA (-0.11%), Westpac (-0.63%), ANZ (-0.13%) and QBE Insurance (-2.82%).
G8 Education (-15.08%) was the heaviest drag on the ASX after flagging a $350m impairment charge set to impact its full-year results.
Elsewhere, NAB will publish its January business conditions data at 11:30am AEDT.
Australian shares set to open higher after Wall Street tech rebound
The news: Australian shares are set to open higher after US tech stocks rebounded from last week's lows following an AI-driven sell-off.
Software companies gained back some losses on Monday, tracking for a second consecutive session of gains after a seven-day decline fuelled by concerns that AI could intensify competition across the sector.
The numbers: Updated at 7:44am AEDT:
- ASX futures: up 20 points to 8,908.
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.04%, S&P 500 up 0.56% and the Nasdaq up 0.93%.
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.60%, DAX up 1.19% and FTSE 100 up 0.16%.
- Spot gold: up 2.12% to USD5,073 per ounce.
- Oil prices: Brent up 1.29% to USD68.93/bbl and US WTI up 1.09% to USD64.24/bbl.
- AUD: up 1.16% at 70.94 US cents.
- Bitcoin: up 0.84% to USD70,778.
The context: All three major US indices rose on Monday, led by gains in tech and software stocks. The S&P 500 technology sector advanced 1.8%, extending Friday's rebound after a sharp sell-off last week. Dow Jones lagged the broader market, although it touched an intraday record, after surpassing the 50,000 mark for the first time on Friday.
The S&P 500 Software Services index climbed 3.18%, with Oracle as the top performer rising 9.95% after investment bank D.A. Davidson upgraded the stock to "buy" from "neutral."
Among the laggards, telehealth platform Hims & Hers Health slumped 15.99% after being sued by Novo Nordisk over alleged patent infringement, following the launch of a $49 copy of the Danish drugmaker's weight-loss pill Wegovy amid scrutiny from the US Food and Drug Administration.
Investor focus has now shifted to upcoming US economic data, including the January non-farm payrolls report due on Wednesday US time, which was delayed by a partial government shutdown, and the January consumer price index scheduled for Friday.
Locally, Westpac and the Melbourne Institute are set to release their February Consumer Sentiment report at 10:30am AEDT, while NAB will publish its January business conditions data at 11:30am AEDT.
The source: Reuters
