ASX opens lower, Valiant Gold set to list on the ASX
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More news: Australian shares opened lower, as markets remain cautious over Trump’s mixed signals overnight on a potential US-Iran ceasefire deal and an extended 10-day pause on planned energy plant strikes.
The benchmark ASX 200 was down by 16.4 points, or 0.19%, to 8,509 at 10:41am AEDT. Six of the 11 sectoral indices opened in the red.
Energy (+1.22%) was the strongest performing sector for a second consecutive session, supported by Santos (+1.27%), Yancoal (+1.55%), Ampol (+1.57%) and Whitehaven Coal (+2.61%), as Brent crude prices remained elevated overnight.
Silex Systems (+5.48%) was the strongest performing stock across the ASX 200 after its uranium enrichment technology has received preliminary approval of a $144 million comprehensive incentives package.
Treasury Wine Estate (+4.59%), Telix Pharmaceuticals (+3.67%), Temple & Webster (+3.34%) were also among the strongest performing stocks outside of energy companies.
Elsewhere, mining (-0.71%) was the weakest performing sector, weighed down by Predictive Discovery (-7.09%), Westgold Resources (-5.23%), Greatland Resources (-4.87%) and Capstone Copper (-4.19%).
Droneshield (-9.82%) was the worst performing stock at the open.
Valiant Gold is set to list on the ASX at 1pm AEDT today.
Australian shares to open lower after Nasdaq hits correction territory
The news: Australian shares are set to open lower after Wall Street closed sharply down on Thursday, with the Nasdaq entering correction territory as investors weighed uncertainty around a potential ceasefire deal between the US and Iran. Brent crude prices remained elevated despite Donald Trump extending the deadline for potential “destruction” on Iranian energy plants to 6 April.
The numbers: Updated at 8:03am AEDT:
- ASX futures: down 15 points to 8,447.
- Wall Street: Dow Jones down 1.01%, S&P 500 down 1.74% and the Nasdaq down 2.38%.
- Europe: CAC 40 down 0.98%, DAX down 1.50% and FTSE 100 down 1.33%.
- Spot gold: down 3.40% to USD4,374 per ounce.
- Oil prices: Brent up 4.67% to USD106.92/bbl and US WTI up 3.76% to USD93.72/bbl.
- AUD: down 0.86% at 68.85 US cents.
- Bitcoin: down 3.39% to USD68,864.
The context: All three major US indices closed lower on Thursday, with the Nasdaq Composite falling 2.4%, closing in a correction, and was at least 10% below its recent high. The Dow Jones dropped 470 points, while the S&P 500 lost 1.7%.
After the market close, Trump said he would pause planned strikes on Iran’s energy sector for a further 10 days to 6 April, citing “ongoing” talks, according to his Truth Social post. Trump’s previous deadline was Friday.
Brent crude rose back to around USD106 a barrel after falling to as low as USD93 on Wednesday, as optimism over a potential ceasefire faded following Trump’s extended deadline.
The extended deadline followed Trump’s contradictory statement overnight, claiming Tehran was “begging” to end the conflict while also indicating uncertainty over whether the US was willing to reach a deal. He warned the US could continue strikes if Iran failed to “get serious” before the original Friday deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has since responded with five counter demands to Trump’s 15-point proposal to end the war, with a senior Iranian official telling Reuters the US proposal was “one-sided”. Iran’s proposals include war reparations, a halt to assassinations and international recognition of its sovereignty over the strait.
Locally, Valiant Gold is set to begin trading on the ASX today.
The sources: Reuters, Truth Social, WSJ, Bloomberg, WSJ
