ASX opens lower as tech stocks retreat; Orora sinks 15% on guidance downgrade
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More news: The Australian sharemarket edged lower at the open as tech and mining stocks gave back some gains from Wednesday after the two-week US-Iran ceasefire came under severe pressure within hours of taking effect.
The benchmark ASX 200 index was down 0.1% to 8,942.3 at 10:45am AEST. Six of the 11 sectoral indices were in positive territory.
Tech majors WiseTech (-7.2%), Life360 (-6.9%) and Xero (-6.8%) all tumbled after rallying on Wednesday.
Packaging manufacturer Orora dropped 15.4% after slashing its full-year earnings guidance due to impacts from the conflict in the Middle East.
Energy companies rebounded from Wednesday’s rout, with Viva Energy (+4.5%), Ampol (+4.4%), Karoon Energy (+4.0%) and Woodside Energy (+3.9%) making up four of the five top performers on the ASX 200.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (+6.5%) paced gains on the index after reporting an increase in unaudited cash earnings for the third quarter and announcing strategic partnerships with tech consultancies Infosys and Genpact.
Australian shares set to open lower after Iran says Israeli strikes on Lebanon violated ceasefire
The news: Australian shares are set to open lower after Iran’s parliament speaker said that Israel’s deadly strikes on Lebanon were a violation of the ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
The ceasefire had sparked a surge in global stock markets overnight and sent oil prices tumbling.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: down 22 points or 0.2% at 8,967 points
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 2.85%, S&P 500 up 2.51%, Nasdaq up 2.80%
- Europe: FTSE 100 up 2.51%, CAC 40 up 4.49%, DAX up 5.06%
- Spot gold: up 0.27% to USD4,719.15 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent down 11.55% to USD96.65/barrel, US WTI down 16.41% to USD94.41/bbl
- AUD: up 1.1% at 70.53 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 3.3% to USD71,642.51
The context: Wall Street’s three major indices posted their strongest session in months overnight and oil prices fell following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire in the Iran war.
Brent Crude prices posted its biggest single day decline since 2020 and seventh largest in a row. US Treasuries rallied before easing after Iran’s parliament speaker said the deal had been violated.
The ceasefire came under pressure within hours as Israel launched deadly attacks on Lebanon. Iran threatened to withdraw from the ceasefire deal and stopped permitting the limited tanker passage through the Strait of Hormuz that had just commenced.
The US has sent a delegation led by US vice-president JD Vance to negotiate with Iranian counterparts in Islamabad, Pakistan. Vance described Iran’s expectation that Israel should cease bombing Lebanon as part of the ceasefire deal as a “legitimate understanding”.
The sources: Bloomberg, The Financial Times
