ASX opens higher as Life360 soars; SGH dives on full-year earnings
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More news: Australian shares edged higher at the open as earnings reports drove gains for tracking app developer Life360 and steep losses for Kerry Stokes-led conglomerate SGH.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 16.6 points, or 0.19%, to 8,861.4 at 10:30am AEST. Six of the 11 sectoral indices were in positive territory.
Life360 led early gains on the ASX 200, climbing 8.4% after the tech company reported a 36% jump in second-quarter revenue and announced that co-founder and CEO Chris Hulls would transition to the role of executive chair.
JB Hi-Fi rebounded 5.3% after a sharp selloff on Monday, as several analysts lifted their ratings on the electronics retailer.
SGH tumbled 7.6% after reporting a 5% lift in full-year net profit after tax to $486 million, missing market estimates.
Australian shares to fall ahead of RBA rates decision
The news: Australian shares are set to open lower after US stocks retreated overnight, as investors awaited the latest inflation data and US President Donald Trump extended the 90-day tariff truce with China.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: down 14 points to 8,782 points
- Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.45%, S&P 500 down 0.25% and Nasdaq down 0.30%
- Europe: CAC 40 down 0.57%, DAX down 0.34% and FTSE 100 up 0.37%
- Spot gold: down 1.63% to USD3,342 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 0.09% to USD66.69/bbl and US WTI up 0.19% to USD64.00/bbl
- AUD: down 0.23% to 65.14 US cents
- Bitcoin: down 0.01% to USD118,844.
The context: Wall Street's main indices lowered overnight as investors braced for new economic data for clues on whether the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in September.
Intel gained 3.6% as CEO Lip-Bu Tan was seen entering the White House to meet Trump after the president last week called for his resignation over ties to China. Chip giants Nvidia and AMD were little changed after agreeing to give the US government a share of revenue from some China sales.
Meanwhile, markets remained steady following reports that Trump had extended a pause of tariffs on Chinese goods for another 90 days.
In the local market, the Reserve Bank is expected to cut the cash rate today, which would mark the third cut this year. Analysts predict the central bank will lower the rate by 25 basis points to 3.6%.
