Energy stocks lead early ASX rally; gold miners retreat
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More news: Australian shares rallied in morning trade after US stocks edged up overnight, with nine of the 11 sectoral indices in the green.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 49.9 points, or 0.59%, to 8,565.6 at 11am AEST.
Energy (1.5%) was the best performing sector — with oil giants Woodside Energy and Santos both adding more than 1% — followed by consumer discretionary (1.2%) and real estate (1%).
Troubled education services provider IDP was the best performing ASX 200 company, climbing 9.5% after losing nearly 50% in a single session last week. Data centre operator NextDC (6.2%) also surged after announcing that contracted utilisation of its data centres increased by 7% in less than a month.
Elsewhere, the nine worst performing ASX 200 stocks were all gold miners, with West African Resources (-5.4%), Genesis Minerals (-4.9%) and Regis Resources (-4.6%) leading the selloff.
Australian shares to edge down as US-China talks continue
The news: Australian shares are poised to lower at market open after a mixed session on Wall Street as investors wait to see the outcome of ongoing trade talks between the US and China.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: down 4 points, or 0.1%, to 8,555
- Wall Street: Dow Jones flat, S&P 500 up 0.09%, and Nasdaq up 0.31%
- Europe: CAC 40 down 0.17%, DAX down 0.54%, and FTSE 100 down 0.06%
- Spot gold: flat at USD3,326 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 0.16% to USD67.15/bbl, and US WTI up 1.24% to USD65.38/bbl
- AUD: up 0.37% to 65.18 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 0.63% to USD109,452.
The context: US stocks edged up overnight, with Tesla shares rallying 4.5% after US President Donald Trump eased tensions with the company's chief executive Elon Musk saying he wished him "very well". Apple fell 1.2% after product announcements at the iPhone maker's Worldwide Developers Conference failed to impress investors.
Elsewhere, top officials from the US and China are expected to resume negotiations in London for a second day, as the two countries seek agreements over the trade of technology and rare earth elements.
What's ahead: Westpac will publish its Consumer Sentiment indicators for June at 10:30am AEST, with economists expecting a boost in data since the 25 basis points worth of rate cuts in May. NAB will release its monthly Business Confidence Survey for May at 11:30am.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will address the National Press Club of Australia today from 11:30am.
