ASX opens lower as tech stocks extend selloff; A2 Milk plunges on guidance downgrades
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More news: The Australian sharemarket started lower as a 2.9% jump in energy stocks partly offset broad losses led by the technology segment (-2.7%).
The benchmark ASX 200 index was down 0.6% to 8,911.2 at 10:30am AEST. Only two of the 11 sectoral indices were in positive territory.
Dairy producer A2 Milk (-17.6%) was the worst performer after cutting its full-year guidance due to supply chain issues related to the conflict in the Middle East.
Life360 (-9.9%) led the selloff in tech stocks, while Pantoro Gold (-4.4%) was the worst performer among retreating gold miners.
Karoon Energy (+6.5%) led gains on the index as oil prices pushed higher. Fellow oil and gas stocks Viva Energy (+4.6%), Beach Energy (+3.7%), Woodside Energy (+3.4%), Ampol (+2.5%) and Santos (+2.3%) were all among the top 10 performers.
Telix Pharmaceuticals (+5.5%) also rallied after confirming that it will receive $57 million from biotech firm Regeneron as part of a joint development and commercialisation agreement.
Outside of the ASX 200, fertility treatment provider Monash IVF shares rocketed 15.8% after the company received an improved takeover offer from longtime suitors Genesis Capital and Soul Patts.
Australian shares to lift despite Hormuz blockade, failed US-Iran peace talks
The news: The benchmark ASX 200 index is set to climb back above 9,000 at the open after 21 hours of US-Iran peace talks ended without a deal, as investors prepare for the opening week of first-quarter earnings season on Wall Street.
The numbers: Updated at 7:35am AEST:
- ASX futures: up 70 points to 9,056 points
- Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.56%, S&P 500 down 0.11%, Nasdaq up 0.35%
- Europe: FTSE 100 down 0.03%, CAC 40 up 0.17%, DAX down 0.01%
- Spot gold: down 0.24% to USD4,751.68 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent down 0.75% to USD95.20/barrel, US WTI down 0.37% to USD96.93/bbl
- AUD: down 1.06% at 70.08 US cents
- Bitcoin: down 2.36% to USD71,337
The context: US President Donald Trump on Sunday ordered a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as failed peace talks in Islamabad threaten to disrupt the current ceasefire deal.
The latest developments come after Wall Street rallied last week on hopes of a truce between the two sides.
The S&P 500, which advanced more than 3.5% over the last five sessions, has now recouped nearly all of its declines since the start of the US and Israeli attacks on Iran in late February, with the benchmark index less than 1% lower over the period.
Investors will also wait for the first tranche of first-quarter earnings on Wall Street due this week, with banks Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Citigroup set to report, as well as the likes of Netflix, Johnson & Johnson and PepsiCo.
