ASX starts lower; James Hardie jumps on Q2 figures
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More news: Australian shares opened lower this morning, tracking losses on Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 19.7 points, or 0.22%, to 8,937.1 at 10:40am AEDT. Eight of the 11 sectoral indices were in negative territory.
Gold miner Catalyst Metals (-8.4%) was the worst performer on the ASX 200 after reporting lower-than-expected production in the September quarter. Fellow gold producers Vault Minerals (-4.1%) and Greatland Resources (-2.4%) were also lower.
Embattled building products group James Hardie was the top performer, jumping 9.1%, after releasing preliminary second-quarter results that beat market forecasts. Magellan Financial Group (+4.6%) also climbed after lifting its assets under management by $600 million during the September quarter.
Australian shares to edge higher as US stocks snap recent rally
The news: Australian shares are set to rise this morning after US stocks retreated from a series of all-time highs as the federal government shutdown entered its seventh day.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEDT:
- ASX futures: up 14 points, or 0.15%, to 8,980
- Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.20%, S&P 500 down 0.41% and Nasdaq down 0.67%
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.04%, DAX up 0.03% and FTSE 100 up 0.05%
- Spot gold: up 0.46% to USD3,981 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 0.40% at USD65.73/bbl and US WTI up 0.53% to USD62.02/bbl
- AUD: down 0.49% to 65.83 US cents
- Bitcoin: down 2.13% to USD122,131.
The context: The three main US indices ended lower overnight as traders turned to secondary economic indicators, as the government shutdown continued to restrict the release of official reports. A consumer expectations survey from the New York Federal Reserve showed deteriorating future expectations and rising inflation projections.
Tech majors led losses on Wall Street, as Tesla shed 4.5% after announcing more affordable versions of its Model Y SUV and Model 3 sedan. Oracle dropped 2.5% after The Information reported that the software giant's cloud margins are lower than market estimates.
