ASX ends slightly lower as coal miners climb, tech stocks slide
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More news: The Australian sharemarket ended slightly down as gains be energy companies were offset by losses in the tech sector.
The benchmark ASX 200 index lowered 0.06% to 8,791.3, with six of the 11 sectoral indices in negative territory.
WiseTech Global (-3.6%) led the list of tech names that fell. Xero (-2.1%) and Technology One (-1.5%) were also lower.
Yancoal (+6.0%) was the top performer in the energy sector, as fellow coal miners New Hope (+2.9%) and Whitehaven (+2.7%) also rallied.
Diversified miner South32 (+4.6%) was one of the day’s top performers after topping its production guidance for the June quarter.
Uranium producer Deep Yellow (+6.1%) climbed after announcing the award of two civil and concrete construction contracts for its flagship Tumas project in Namibia.
Outside the ASX 200, tungsten miner EQ Resources (+34.1%) surged after Fortescue executive chair Andrew Forrest acquired a 16.8% stake in the company from Oaktree Capital Management for $190 million.
ASX edges higher as energy stocks rally on escalating Middle East conflict
More news: Australian shares opened marginally higher supported by a rally in energy stocks following a spike in oil prices overnight. This came as the US confirmed a ninth consecutive night of attacks against Iran, showing no end in sight for the Middle East conflict.
The benchmark ASX was up by 9.9 points, or 0.11%, to 8,806 at 10:45am AEST. Five of the 11 sectoral indices opened in the green.
Energy (+1.7%) was the strongest performing sector at the open, supported by a lift in Woodside (+1.9%), Santos (+1.5%), Ampol (+2.4%) and Viva Energy (+3.4%).
Deep Yellow (+4%) rallied at the open after awarding $34 million in contracts for the Tumas Project development.
Hub24 (+2.8%), Predictive Discoveries (+2.8%), Minerals 260 (+2.1%) and 4D Medical (+1.8%) were among the best performing stocks at the open.
Elsewhere, tech (+1.1%) was the worst performing sector following a weaker lead on Wall Street, weighed down by WiseTech Global (-2%), Life360 (-1.1%), Megaport (-1.4%) and Weebit Nano (-3.6%).
Endeavour Group (-4.3%), Flight Centre (-4.1%), Alcoa Corporation (-3.6%) and Domino’s Pizza (-3.2%) were also among the weakest performing stocks.
Australian shares to open higher despite Wall Street chip bear market
The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open higher despite US stocks closing lower on Friday, as a sharp sell-off in chipmakers pushed the high-profile group into a bear market amid concerns the AI spending boom is becoming harder to justify.
The numbers: Updated at 7:53am AEST:
- ASX futures: up 54 points to 8,814 points
- Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.77% on Friday, S&P 500 down 1.01%, Nasdaq down 1.40%
- Europe: FTSE 100 up 0.27% on Friday, CAC 40 down 0.47%, DAX down 0.34%
- Spot gold: up 1.03% to USD4,016 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 1.02% to USD89.00/barrel, US WTI up 0.58% to USD82.96/bbl
- AUD: down 0.25% at 69.65 US cents
- Bitcoin: down 0.75% to USD64,318.
The context: All three major US indices closed lower on Friday, dragged down by semiconductor stocks as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index posted its steepest weekly decline in more than a year. The index has fallen more than 18% so far in July and closed 20.2% below its 22 June record high, confirming it entered a bear market.
Among the Magnificent Seven group, all but Apple finished lower, with Meta and Alphabet leading losses, falling 2.7% and 3.2% respectively.
Elsewhere, oil prices rose after the US said it had completed an eighth consecutive night of strikes against Iran following Washington’s announcement that at least two US military personnel were killed in Jordan, while regional allies reported further Iranian attacks on Sunday.
On the economic front, US consumer sentiment improved in July, with the University of Michigan’s preliminary index rising to 54.4 from 49.5 in June. The increase was largely driven by lower petrol prices during the Iran ceasefire earlier this summer, although the survey’s director cautioned the improvement could prove short-lived if fuel prices continue to rise.
