ASX opens lower dragged down by gold miners
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More news: Australian shares opened lower with mining, tech and energy stocks dragging the benchmark down.
The benchmark ASX 200 index was down by 53.4 points, or 0.60%, to 8,815 at 10:22am AEDT. Five of the 11 sectoral indices opened in the red.
Financials (+1.26%) led early gains, lifted by Commonwealth Bank (+1.86%), NAB (+1.18%), Westpac (+1.37%) and ANZ (+1.85%).
However, miners (-4.42%) was the worst performing sector, with the fall led by gold miners Pantoro Gold (-10.60%), Vault Minerals (-10.03%), Emerald Resources (-9.66%) and Westgold Resources (-9.511%).
Graincorp (-16.66%) was the worst performer across the ASX 200 after flagging an earnings decline in FY26 due to global supply concerns.
The Melbourne Institute is set to release its monthly inflation gauge at 11:00am AEDT.
Australian shares to fall as RBA rate hike nears, metals tumble
The news: Australian shares are set to fall at the open, as markets brace for the RBA to lift rates for the first time in more than two years. A brutal sell-off in precious metals and cryptocurrencies is also adding pressure, after US President Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair.
The numbers: Updated at 7:40am AEDT:
- ASX futures: down 1 point to 8,870.
- Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.36%, S&P 500 down 0.43% and the Nasdaq down 0.68%.
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.68%, DAX up 0.94% and FTSE 100 up 0.51%.
- Spot gold: down 9.11% to USD4,887 per ounce.
- Oil prices: Brent down 0.39% to USD69.32/bbl and US WTI down 0.32% to USD65.21/bbl.
- AUD: down 1.28% at 69.58 US cents.
- Bitcoin: down 1.83% to USD77,232.
The context: The RBA is widely expected to lift the cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.85% on Tuesday, following stronger-than-expected local inflation and employment data. Markets are now pricing in multiple hikes this year.
The sharp sell-off in silver and gold on Friday followed Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chair, ending months of speculation over who would lead US monetary policy as the president pushes for deep rate cuts. The US dollar held its gains, while US stock futures remained lower.
Silver plunged 26%, its largest intraday fall on record. Gold dropped 9% in its worst session in more than a decade. Copper traders were already under pressure after prices briefly surged past $14,500 a tonne before retreating just as quickly.
Locally, the Melbourne Institute is set to release its monthly inflation gauge at 11:00am AEDT.
