Australian shares rise as US-China trade talks progress; Woodside, BHP rally
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More news: Australian shares opened higher, tracking gains on Wall Street overnight, as the US and China signalled progress in trade talks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 40.4 points, or 0.47%, to 8,627.6 at 10:30am AEST. Ten of the 11 sectoral indices were in the green.
Energy stocks surged 1.7% as oil giants Woodside Energy (3%) and Santos (1.2%) advanced. Mining stocks added 1% as BHP (2%), Fortescue (1.9%) and Rio Tinto (1.%) all rallied.
Buy now, pay later lender Zip (17.2%) was the best performing ASX 200 company after upgrading its full-year earnings guidance for the second time.
Building materials supplier Fletcher Building (9.3%) was the second best performer after confirming acquisition interest from a number of unnamed suitors.
Meanwhile, Lynas Rare Earths (-5.2%) led losses as the US and China reached an in-principle trade agreement, after being buoyed last week by Chinese export controls on several rare earth materials.
Australian shares set to rise on US-China trade hopes
The news: Australian shares are set to climb at market open after each of Wall Street's three main indices closed higher on optimism over ongoing trade talks between the US and China.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: up 24 points, or 0.27%, to 8,620
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.25%, S&P 500 up 0.55%, and Nasdaq up 0.63%
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.17%, DAX down 0.77%, and FTSE 100 up 0.24%
- Spot gold: flat at USD3,323 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent down 0.33% to USD66.65/bbl, and US WTI down 0.84% to USD64.74/bbl
- AUD: up 0.11% to 65.26 US cents
- Bitcoin: down 0.27% to USD109,679.
The context: US stocks rallied as trade talks between the US and China continued through a second day and into the evening in London. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick struck an optimistic tone, saying discussions are going "really, really well", and said they may continue into a third day "if they need be".
Tesla shares jumped 5.6% after tumbling last week amid a public feud between the company's chief executive Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump. Shares in fellow megacaps Alphabet (1.4%) and Meta Platforms (1.2%) also advanced.
What's ahead: The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release updated national accounts data on income, expenditure and product, as well as industrial disputes figures for March at 11:30am AEST.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics will release CPI data for May at 10:30pm.
