Australian shares open lower as Coles rockets on FY25 earnings
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More news: Australian shares edged down at the open as supermarket giant Coles rocketed after the release of its full-year financial report.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 21.1 points, or 0.24%, to 8,951.3 at 10:30am AEST. Seven of the 11 sectoral indices were in negative territory.
Coles led gains across the ASX 200, surging 7.5%, after broadly meeting estimates for the 2025 financial year. The rally sent rival supermarket group Woolworths higher (+2.7%) as consumer staples (+2.4%) led sectoral gains.
Insurance broker AUB Group (+5%) and gold miner West African Resources (4.2%) also rallied after posting their full-year results.
Mining technology company IMDEX (-10.5%) led losses on the ASX 200 despite ending 1.8% higher on Monday following its earnings report. Plumbing supplies business Reece (-5.4%) extended losses after ending as Monday's worst performer.
Australian shares to open lower ahead of Fortescue, Coles earnings
The news: Australian shares are set to drop at the open after US stocks retreated overnight, having rallied on Friday following comments by US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell that hinted at a September interest rate cut.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: down 19 points to 8,930
- Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.77%, S&P 500 down 0.43% and Nasdaq down 0.22%
- Europe: CAC 40 down 1.59%, DAX down 0.37% and FTSE 100 up 0.13%
- Spot gold: down 0.18% to USD3,366 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent down 0.04% to USD68.19/bbl and US WTI up 1.70% to USD64.74/bbl
- AUD: down 0.14% to 64.83 US cents
- Bitcoin: down 3.26% to USD109,789.
The context: After US stocks wavered last week in anticipation of Powell's remarks at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium, investors will now turn to second-quarter results from tech megacap Nvidia, expected on Thursday AEST. The world's most valuable company added 1% overnight.
The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index — the Fed's preferred inflation gauge — is also due to be released at the end of the week, while official nonfarm payrolls data is expected next week.
In the local market, mining giant Fortescue and supermarket group Coles are among the ASX companies releasing their full-year results this morning.
