Australian shares extend gains as health stocks surge; miners sink
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More news: Australian shares continued to rise in afternoon trade as healthcare companies rallied, offsetting a selloff across the market's largest miners.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 48.5 points, or 0.57%, to 8,562.7 at 2pm AEST. Nine of the 11 sectoral indices were in the green.
Health insurer NIB Holdings (8.3%) was the best performing ASX 200 company after UBS flagged that it is now trading at a 30% discount to rival Medibank and upgraded its rating to 'buy'.
Building products group James Hardie (6%) was the next best performer after NYSE-listed The AZEK Company's shareholders approved a $14 billion merger between the two companies.
Healthcare was the top sector, adding 2%, as CSL (2.4%), Sigma Healthcare (2%), Cochlear (2%) and Pro Medicus (1.5%) all advanced.
Meanwhile, mining stocks fell 1%, with iron ore giants BHP, Fortescue and Rio Tinto all sliding around 1.8%. Lithium miner Liontown Resources was the worst performer, losing 5.9%, after announcing the resignation of two of its most senior executives. Deep Yellow (-4.6%), Lynas Rare Earths (-4.6%) and Nickel Industries (-3.5%) were also among the hardest hit.
Australian shares start higher; James Hardie soars on AZEK deal approval
More news: Australian shares climbed in early trading as building products maker James Hardie jumped after its $14 billion merger, with NYSE-listed The AZEK Company, cleared a crucial shareholder vote. Miners and energy stocks lowered.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 20.9 points, or 0.25%, to 8,535.1 at 10:30am AEST. Seven of the 11 sectoral indices were in the green.
James Hardie, up 8%, led early gains. Healthcare (0.9%) was the best performing sector as pharmaceutical giant CSL added 1%.
Miners (-1%) were the worst performers, as iron ore heavyweights BHP (-1.2%), Fortescue (-1.2%) and Rio Tinto (-1.1%) all dropped.
Energy (-0.7%) also retreated, as oil producer Woodside Energy (-1.1%) and coal miner Whitehaven (-1.2%) lowered.
Australian shares to lift after US indices notch record highs
The news: Australian shares are set to rise this morning after Wall Street benchmarks S&P 500 and Nasdaq both scored record highs on Friday, buoyed by heightened optimism around interest rate cuts and trade deals.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: up 5 points, or 0.05%, to 8,521
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 1.00%, S&P 500 up 0.52%, and Nasdaq up 0.52%
- Europe: CAC 40 up 1.78%, DAX up 1.62%, and FTSE 100 up 0.72%
- Spot gold: down 1.61% to USD3,274 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent down 0.69% to USD66.34/bbl, and US WTI down 0.69% to USD65.07/bbl
- AUD: down 0.10% to 65.41 US cents
- Bitcoin: down 0.07% to USD107,487.
The context: Investors will be monitoring events in Washington this week as US President Donald Trump aims to pass his 'Big Beautiful Bill' — a sweeping tax and domestic policy package — by 4 July. Trump also said on Friday he will send a letter to every country outlining a tariff for access to the US market, tying the move to his 9 July deadline for trade negotiations.
New monthly US employment data, due for release on Thursday, may also play into rising expectations for future interest rate cuts.
The source: Reuters
