ASX opens higher ahead of expected RBA rate hike
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More news: Australian shares opened higher in early trade, supported by a lift across the real estate, mining and financial sectors. Markets are also anticipating a 25 basis point rate hike to 4.1% from the RBA at 2:30pm AEDT today.
The benchmark ASX 200 was up by 34.6 points, or 0.40%, to 8,618 at 10:42am AEDT. Four of the 11 sectorial indices opened in the green.
Real Estate (+1.04%) led the strongest performing sector at the open, lifted by Goodman Group (+0.67%), Scentre Group (+0.28%), Stockland (+0.67%) and Vicinity Centres (+1.28%).
IperionX (+4.89%) was the best performing stock across the ASX 200, rebounding from a $400 million loss in earlier sessions after correcting a “typographical error” in its half-year accounts on Friday evening.
West African Resources (+3.95%) also advanced after posting a 130% jump in full-year profit.
Energy (-0.84%) was the weakest performing sector, weighed down by Nexgen Energy (-3.26%), Yancoal (-3.26%), Whitehaven Coal (2.76%) and Viva Energy (-2.40%).
New Hope (-5.66%) was the worst performing stock after reporting an 84% net profit fall in the half-year due to bad weather and lower coal prices.
Web Travel (-2.61%), GQG Partners (-2.51%), Seek (-2.28%) and Pro Medicus (-2.21%) were also among the worst performers at the open.
Australian shares to open higher as focus turns to RBA decision
The news: Australian shares are set to open higher after Wall Street surged on Monday, driven by gains in AI-related stocks, while oil prices eased as efforts intensified to restore crude flows through the Persian Gulf.
The numbers: Updated at 7:47am AEDT:
- ASX futures: up 66 points to 8,645.
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.83%, S&P 500 up 1.01% and the Nasdaq up 1.22%.
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.31%, DAX up 0.50% and FTSE 100 up 0.55%.
- Spot gold: down 0.27% to USD5,008 per ounce.
- Oil prices: Brent down 2.23% to USD100.84/bbl and US WTI down 4.53% to USD94.24/bbl.
- AUD: up 1.30% at 70.71 US cents.
- Bitcoin: up 1.80% to USD74,150.
The context: All three major US indices closed higher overnight, supported by strong gains in tech stocks. Shares in Nvidia rose 1.63% after Reuters reported the company plans to slash at least 20% of its workforce to offset costs of expanding artificial intelligence infrastructure. Tesla and Micron Technology also gained 1.11% and 3.68% respectively after outlining plans to develop new AI chips and manufacturing facilities.
Brent crude retreated back to around USD100 a barrel after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said more than 1.4 billion barrels remain in the emergency reserves that could be released “as and if needed.” That came despite US allies resisting calls from Donald Trump to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The economic fallout from the Middle East conflict is set to spotlight economic policymakers this week, with interest rate decisions due from the US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of Japan and Bank of England.
Locally, the Reserve Bank of Australia is scheduled to deliver its monetary policy decision at 2:00pm AEDT, with markets widely expecting a 25 basis point rate hike to 4.1%.
