ASX opens flat as miners rocket amid wider selloff
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More news: Australian shares were roughly flat at the open as big miners surged, offsetting broad losses across all other sectors.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 3.1 points, or 0.04%, to 8,592.3 at 10:30am AEST. Ten of the 11 sectoral indices were in the red.
Mining stocks jumped 2%, boosted by iron ore giants Fortescue (3.9%), BHP (2.6%) and Rio Tinto (2.6%). Critical minerals miner Iluka Resources (26.4%) and rare earths producer Lynas (17.2%) both soared, pacing a rally that also saw lithium explorers Mineral Resources (8.5%), Liontown Resources (8.1%) and Pilbara Minerals (6.1%).
Troubled property developer Lifestyle Communities (-3.1%) was the worst performing ASX 200 company, extending heavy losses from earlier this week after a tribunal ruled that some of the clauses in its housing contracts were void.
Australian shares to open higher as Delta, Nvidia power Wall Street rally
The news: Australian shares are set to rise at the open after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq notched fresh record highs overnight, buoyed by a bullish forecast from Delta Air Lines and as chip maker Nvidia extended recent gains.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: up 27 points, or 0.31%, to 8,600
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.43%, S&P 500 up 0.27%, and Nasdaq up 0.09%
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.30%, DAX down 0.38%, and FTSE 100 up 1.23%
- Spot gold: up 0.31% to USD3,324 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 0.26% to USD68.82/bbl, and US WTI down 2.21% to USD66.87/bbl
- AUD: up 0.72% to 65.86 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 0.14% to USD113,745.
The context: The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both advanced as Delta shares jumped 12% after the airline announced better-than-expected third-quarter and full-year profit estimates.
Rival carriers United Airlines (14.3%) and American Airlines (12.7%) also rallied.
Megacap Nvidia climbed 0.7% to close above its new USD4 trillion market capitalisation for the first time. It was reported that chief executive Jensen Huang will meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House today, a day before Huang’s planned trip to China.
Investors were also reassured after new data showed jobless claims fell to a seven-week low last week.
