Australian shares start higher as mining rally offsets broader losses
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More news: Australian shares edged higher at the open as a rally in mining stocks offset broad losses across the market.
The benchmark ASX 200 index was up 14 points, or 0.16%, to 8,776.7 at 10:30am AEDT. Only three of the 11 sectoral indices were in positive territory, with miners adding around 1%.
Evolution Mining (+2.5%), Westgold Resources (+2.5%) and Emerald Resources (+2.3%) led a surge in gold stocks as spot prices jumped to record highs.
Diversified miner South32 (+5.1%), lithium producer Liontown (+4.5%) and critical minerals group Iluka Resources (+2.4%) also helped to lift the sector.
Australian shares to lower as gold and silver prices surge
The news: Australian shares are expected to drop at the open after Wall Street's three major indices ended lower on Friday.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEDT:
- ASX futures: down 12 points to 8,797
- Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.04%, S&P 500 down 0.03% and Nasdaq down 0.09%
- Europe: CAC 40 down 0.27%, DAX up 0.23% and FTSE 100 down 0.19%
- Spot gold: up 1.15% to USD4532.18 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent down 1.62% to USD60.64/bbl and US WTI down 2.85% to USD56.740/bbl
- AUD: flat at 66.99 US cents
- Bitcoin: down 0.35% to USD87493.
The context: US stocks were set to end the month higher after shaking off turbulence driven by weakness in technology shares, caused by fears over spending linked to AI.
But stocks were mostly steady in light trading on Friday, as the S&P 500 tracked its eighth straight month of gains, buoyed by optimism over economic growth and corporate earnings. Gold and silver climbed to record highs.
