ASX opens higher as energy stocks lift
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More news: Australian shares opened higher as mining and energy stocks supported the market index in early trading, following a surge in oil prices after overnight US–Iran peace talks stalled.
The benchmark ASX 200 was up by 28.2 points, or 0.32%, to 8,752 at 10:48am AEST. Four of the 11 sectorial indices opened in the green.
Miners (-1.8%) was the strongest performing sector at the open, supported by a lift in BHP (+2.1%), PLS (+3.3%), Lynas Rare Earths (+2.7%) and Bluescope (+3.1%).
Superloop (+5.3%) climbed at the open after hiking its FY26 underlying EBITDA guidance on strong second-quarter performance.
Silex Systems (+11.7%), Paladin Energy (+10.7%), Nexgen Energy (+9.5%) and Deep Yellow (+8.9%) were among the best performing stocks across the ASX 200.
Elsewhere, tech (-2.2%) was the weakest performing sector, weighed down by Xero (-2.6%), Wisetech (-3%), Codan (-2.6%) and Life360 (-4.5%).
Neuren Pharmaceuticals (-8.5%), Sidewinder (-4.8%), JB Hi-Fi (-4.7%) and Temple & Webster (-4.5%) were also among the worst performing stocks.
On the data front, the ABS is set to release first-quarter GDP figures today.
Australian shares to open higher as AI fuels Wall St momentum
The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open higher after Wall Street closed marginally higher overnight, as renewed enthusiasm for artificial intelligence stocks and hopes for a US-Iran peace agreement continued to support investor sentiment.
The numbers: Updated at 7:55am AEST:
- ASX futures: up 38 points to 8,789 points
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.45%, S&P 500 up 0.13%, Nasdaq up 0.03%
- Europe: FTSE 100 up 0.33%, CAC 40 up 0.77%, DAX up 0.48%
- Spot gold: up 0.11% to USD4,490.05 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 0.53% to USD95.48/barrel, US WTI up 1.29% to USD93.34/bbl
- AUD: up 0.29% at 71.79 US cents
- Bitcoin: down 5.53% to USD67,467
The context: All three major US indices closed higher on Tuesday, with tech stocks driving markets to record highs. The S&P 500 rose above 7,600, recording its ninth consecutive gain, its longest winning streak since May 2025, according to Bloomberg. The Philadelphia Semiconductor index climbed nearly 6%.
Marvell Technology surged 32% after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company could reach USD1 trillion ($1.3 trillion) valuation. Hewlett Packard Enterprise jumped 19% after raising its sales forecast on strong demand for AI-related products.
Investors also closely watched Anthropic after the company said on Monday it had confidentially filed for a US initial public offering, moving ahead of rival OpenAI in a closely watched race to reach public markets.
Elsewhere, Trump said talks with Iran were continuing as Tehran reviews a proposed agreement to end the conflict. Iranian media reported no communications had taken place with Washington for several days, according to Reuters.
Trump said earlier this week he remained optimistic about reaching an interim peace agreement and rejected reports from Iranian state media that said negotiations had been suspended, telling reporters the two sides had been in continuous contact, according to Bloomberg.
On the economic front, eurozone inflation rose to 3.2% in May, exceeding 3% for the first time since September 2023, according to Bloomberg, reinforcing expectations the ECB will raise interest rates at its next meeting.
Locally, the Australian Bureau of Statistics is scheduled to release first-quarter GDP figures.
