Australian shares open higher as healthcare, banks lead broad gains
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More news: Australian shares climbed at the open as finance and healthcare stocks led broad gains across the market, as nine of the 11 sectoral indices moved into positive territory.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 67 points, or 0.76%, to 8,872 at 11:29am AEST.
The health sector (+1.3%) had posted the biggest gains as CSL (+2%), Sonic Healthcare (+1.7%) and Ramsay Healthcare (+1.1%) gained. Clarity Pharmaceuticals (+5.8%) was leading the ASX 200.
The finance sector (+1.2%) was also buoyed by gains for Commonwealth Bank (+1.2%), NAB (+1.3%), Westpac (+1.4%), ANZ (+1%) and Macquarie Group (+1.5%). HMC Capital (+5.3%) also lifted.
Gold miners were also among the biggest gainers as the spot price of the commodity. Bellevue Gold (+4.7%), Regis Resources (+4.4%), Capricorn Metals (+3.2%) and Westgold Resources (+2.8%) posted gains.
Energy (-1.5%) fell as Woodside (-1.6%) and Santos (-1.4%) tracked lower oil prices. Oil producers Karoon Energy (-3%) and Beach Energy (-1.9%) while oil refiner Viva Energy (-1.7%) also fell.
Australian shares to open higher after Wall Street hits new records
The news: Australian shares are set to open higher this morning after Wall Street’s three main indices all closed at record highs. New US inflation and unemployment claims data strengthened the case for the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates next week.
The numbers: Updated at 8:05am AEST:
- ASX futures: up 43 points to 8,850
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 1.36%, S&P 500 up 0.85% and Nasdaq up 0.72%
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.80%, DAX up 0.30% and FTSE 100 up 0.78%
- Spot gold: down 0.13% to USD3,636 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent down 1.66% USD66.37/bbl and US WTI down 2.04% to USD62.37/bbl
- AUD: up 0.76% to 66.63 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 0.78% to USD114,500.
The context: Wall Street surged as the case for the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates next week was strengthened following the release of consumer inflation data that was largely in-line with expectations, and a rise in initial unemployment claims.
Paramount Skydance (+15.5%) stocks surged following reports it is preparing a majority cash bid for Warner Bros Discovery (+29%).
The US core consumer price index (CPI) lifted 0.3% in August on a month-to-month basis, and 3.1% year on year, both in line with forecasts.
The overall CPI figure lifted 0.4% month to month, slightly ahead of the expected 0.3% and the biggest gain this year, while the year-on-year increase of 2.9% was in line with expectations.
Meanwhile, weekly initial jobless claims hit their highest level since October 2021 at 263,000.
