ASX opens lower as Light & Wonder sinks; gold miners rally
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More news: Australian shares edged lower at the open as widespread declines were partly offset by gains in mining stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 11.6 points, or 0.13%, to 8,819.8 at 10:30am AEST. Eight of the 11 sectoral indices were in negative territory.
Afterpay owner Block and furniture retailer Nick Scali led gains on the ASX 200 following positive financial results. Block rose 6.9% after lifting its full-year profit forecast while Nick Scali was up 4.4% despite reporting lower net profit for the year.
Mining stocks climbed 1.1% as gold miners rallied. Vault Miners (+3%), Westgold Resources (+2.8%) and Ramelious Resources (+2%) led gains in the sector.
Gambling company Light & Wonder, down 7.1%, was the worst performer, extending a 2% drop from Thursday after reporting lower second-quarter revenue and confirming plans to delist from the Nasdaq in November.
Australian shares to open lower after mixed session on Wall Street
The news: Australian shares are set to open lower this morning after a mixed session on Wall Street overnight, as the Dow and S&P 500 retreated while the Nasdaq sealed another record closing high.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: down 25 points to 8,757 points
- Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.51%, S&P 500 down 0.08% and Nasdaq up 0.35%
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.97%, DAX up 1.12% and FTSE 100 down 0.69%
- Spot gold: up 0.80% to USD3,396 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent down 0.14% to USD66.34/bbl and US WTI down 0.82% to USD63.82/bbl
- AUD: up 0.27% to 65.20 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 0.11% to USD117,371.
The context: The Dow and S&P 500 fell overnight as pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly dived 14% after new data on its new oral weight loss pill disappointed. Intel dropped 3% after US President Donald Trump demanded the immediate resignation of its chief executive Lip-Bu Tan, calling him “highly conflicted” over his links to China.
Before the close, Trump also said he will nominate Council of Economic Advisers chairman Stephen Miran as a temporary Federal Reserve governor to replace Jerome Powell.
In the local market, insurance group QBE, Afterpay owner Block and furniture retailer Nick Scali are due to release financial results this morning.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release its Monthly Business Turnover Indicator for June at 11:30am AEST. China’s National Bureau of Statistics is due to publish its consumer price index and producer price index for July around the same time.
