ASX opens higher as earnings season delivers mixed results
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More news Australian shares opened higher supported by gains across the energy, telecommunications and industrial sectors.
The benchmark ASX 200 was up by 75.8 points, or 0.84%, to 9,082 at 10:30am AEDT. Nine of the 11 sectoral indices opened in the green.
Energy (+2.09%) was the strongest performing sector, led by gains in Woodside (+2.24%), Santos (+3.17%), Yancoal (+1.25%) and Paladin Energy (+3.27%).
Hub24 (+14.44%) surged and was among the best performing stocks after reporting a 60% increase in half-year underlying net profit.
Sonic Healthcare (+10.14%) rallied after posting an 11% increase in first-half net profit, while Ventia (+8.48%) gained after reporting a 13% increase in full-year profit.
Elsewhere, consumer discretionary (-2.11%) was the worst performing sector across the ASX 200, led by a fall in Lovisa (-12.03%) despite the jewellery retailer posting a 2.8% uptick in first-half profit.
Zip (-30.49%) plunged and was the among the worst performing stocks, despite reporting a 334.5% rise in first-half statutory profit.
Medibank (-4.69%) fell after posting a 11% decline in half-year profit, while Whitehaven Coal (-3.43%) slid after lowering its dividend.
Australian shares to open higher after Wall St climbs on tech rebound
The news: Australian shares are set to open higher after Wall Street indices rose on Wednesday, lifted by gains in Nvidia, Amazon and other technology heavyweights following recent concerns over artificial intelligence.
The numbers: Updated at 7:44am AEDT:
- ASX futures: up 28 points to 8,992.
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.19%, S&P 500 up 0.25% and the Nasdaq up 0.13%.
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.18%, DAX up 1.12% and FTSE 100 up 1.23%.
- Spot gold: up 2.17% to USD4,985 per ounce.
- Oil prices: Brent up 4.70% to USD70.59/bbl and US WTI up 5.02% to USD65.47/bbl.
- AUD: down 0.65% at 70.39 US cents.
- Bitcoin: down 1.59% to USD66,455.
The context: All three major US indices traded higher overnight, led by gains in tech stocks. Nvidia rose 1.06% after signing a multi-year deal to sell Meta million of its current and future AI chips, while Amazon advanced 1.70% also supporting the broader market.
Software makers showed signs of recovery following recent concerns that advances in AI tools could intensify competition and pressure profit margins.
Elsewhere, data released on Wednesday pointed to strong business spending and US economic growth in the December quarter. The US Commerce Department’s Census Bureau reported core capital goods orders rose 3.5% year-on-year.
Markets are pricing in about a 50% chance of at least 25 basis points rate cut by the Federal Reserve at its June meeting, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.
Locally, busy earnings reporting is expected with Rio Tinto, Telix Pharmaceuticals, Transurban Group, Goodman Group, Lovisa, Wesfarmers, Whitehaven Coal, Telstra among companies due to report.
The source: Reuters
