ASX opens higher; Ampol rockets on $1.1b EG Group deal
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More news: Australian shares opened higher this morning as Ampol shares soared following Thursday's announcement that the fuel supplier will buy EG Group Australia for $1.1 billion.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 20.5 points, or 0.23%, to 8,894.3 at 10:45am AEST. Seven of the 11 sectoral indices were in positive territory.
Ampol, up 7.6%, led gains across the ASX 200, with energy (+0.9%) the best performing sector.
Meanwhile, packaging company Amcor tumbled 10.6% despite reporting a 13% rise in full-year net profit. Property developer Mirvac (-1.9%) and hearing device maker Cochlear (-1.7%) were also among the worst performers after reporting full-year earnings this morning.
Australian shares to inch higher as Wall Street stalls on inflation data
The news: Australian shares are set to open modestly higher after Wall Street's main indices ended flat overnight, as new US inflation data dampened hopes of interest cuts for the rest of the year.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: up 8 points, or 0.09%, to 8,838 points
- Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.02%, S&P 500 up 0.03% and Nasdaq down 0.01%
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.84%, DAX up 0.79% and FTSE 100 up 0.13%
- Spot gold: down 0.61% to USD3,335 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent down 0.03% to USD66.82/bbl and US WTI up 2.04% to USD63.93/bbl
- AUD: down 0.71% to 64.99 US cents
- Bitcoin: down 4.17% to USD118,195.
The context: US stocks ended roughly flat after a Labor Department report showed wholesale inflation rose by the most in three years in July. A surge in margins signalled that companies are not absorbing higher import costs tied to trade tariffs.
Traders cut their Fed rate-cut expectations for the rest of the year to around 56.7 basis points, according to data compiled by LSEG, compared with around 63 basis points before the report.
In the local market, hearing device maker Cochlear and property developer Mirvac are due to report their full-year earnings this morning.
