ASX starts higher as energy stocks pace gains
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
More news: Australian shares edged higher at the open, with energy companies leading gains following a rise in crude prices overnight, as the US announced sanctions on Russia’s biggest oil companies.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 15.6 points, or 0.17%, to 9,048.4 at 10:30am AEDT. Eight of the 11 sectoral indices were in positive territory.
Energy (+0.8%) was the best performing sector with oil giant Woodside Energy adding 1.9%. Smaller rival Karoon Energy (+7%) extended gains from Thursday, having closed 9.8% higher following the release of its third-quarter report.
Aluminium company Alcoa Corporation — which surged earlier in the week on news that it was set to benefit from the new US-Australia critical minerals deal — was the top performer on the ASX 200, jumping 9.8%.
Lithium miner Pilbara Minerals (+5.4%) and Event Cinemas owner EVT (+3.3%) also rallied after reporting positive trading updates this morning. Coal miner Whitehaven (-3%) was the worst performer on the ASX 200 after its quarterly update disappointed investors.
Australian shares to lift as US stocks rally on Trump-Xi meeting confirmation
The news: Australian shares are set to open higher after US stocks advanced overnight, with investors buoyed by confirmation that US President Donald Trump will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping next week.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEDT:
- ASX futures: up 13 points, or 0.14% to 9,040
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.31%, S&P 500 up 0.59% and Nasdaq up 0.89%
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.23%, DAX up 0.24% and FTSE 100 up 0.67%
- Spot gold: up 0.32% to USD4,114 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 5.21% at USD65.85/bbl and US WTI up 5.44% to USD61.68/bbl
- AUD: up 0.32% at 65.14 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 2.15% to USD110,013.
The context: The three main US indices ended higher as tensions between Washington and Beijing appeared to ease on confirmation that the two leaders will meet next week as part of Trump's trip through Asia.
Traders also responded to another batch of third-quarter earnings. Tesla shares reversed losses to close 2.3% higher, having fallen as much as 5.7% earlier in the session after the EV maker missed consensus profit estimates. IBM lowered 0.9% after reporting a slowdown in its key cloud software business.
Meanwhile, energy stocks tracked a spike in crude prices as the US announced sanctions on Russia’s biggest oil companies in a bid to end the war in Ukraine.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics is due to release its consumer price index report for September at 10:30pm AEDT after being delayed by the ongoing US government shutdown. The data will inform the Federal Reserve's policy meeting next week.
