ASX opens higher as miners rally; Ansell soars on full-year earnings
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More news: Australian shares opened sharply higher as miners led broad gains across the ASX. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 63.3 points, or 0.71%, to 9,044.1 at 10:46am AEST. Seven of the 11 sectoral indices were in positive territory.
Healthcare equipment group Ansell (14.1%) was the big winner from this morning's flurry of earnings results, after notching a 33% leap in full-year profit. Health insurer NIB (+5.7%) also rallied after reporting a 9.4% lift in statutory profit.
Miners led sectoral gains (+2.3%) as iron ore heavyweights BHP (+2.6%), Fortescue (+2.2%) and Rio Tinto (+2.1%) advanced. Lithium miner Pilbara Minerals (+3.3%) and gold producer Ramelius Resources (+3%) were also higher after putting out their full-year results this morning.
Meanwhile, plumbing supplies company Reece Group tanked 19.8% after posting a 24% drop in full-year profit. Event cinemas owner EVT (-8.6%) and software provider Nuix (-7.8%) also sold off after their full-year results disappointed investors.
Australian shares to lift ahead of earnings season final week
The news: Australian shares are set to rise at the open as US stocks ended sharply higher on Friday, after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell signalled that imminent rate cuts are on their way.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: up 84 points, or 0.94%, to 9,011 points
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 1.89%, S&P 500 up 1.52% and Nasdaq up 1.88%
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.40%, DAX up 0.29% and FTSE 100 up 0.13%
- Spot gold: up 0.99% to USD3,372 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 0.06% to USD67.26/bbl and US WTI up 0.17% to USD63.77/bbl
- AUD: up 1.10% to 64.89 US cents
- Bitcoin: down 2.28% to USD112,664.
The context: Tech megacaps rallied on Friday, trimming weekly losses to 1.6% for the sector, after Powell's keynote speech at the Economic Policy Symposium boosted confidence that the Fed will cut interest rates next month.
Investors will now await second-quarter results from the world's most valuable company, Nvidia, due on Thursday AEST. The weakness in tech stocks last week was largely attributed to wavering AI sentiment, with Nvidia seen as a crucial gauge for the sector.
In the local market, resource giants Fortescue and Santos will kick-off the final week of earnings season this morning.
The source: Reuters
