ASX opens lower as health stocks slide; DroneShield, Domino's rally on deal news
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More news: Australian shares opened lower as eight of the 11 sectoral indices fell into negative territory. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 33.9 points, or 0.38%, to 8,848 at 10:30am AEDT.
DroneShield (+6.8%) was the top performer on the ASX 200 after announcing a new $25 million contract with an unnamed government customer in Latin America.
Domino's (+4.7%) also rallied after agreeing to sell its commercial printing business Impressu Print Group for $13.5 million.
Steadfast Group (-2.5%) extended its decline from Friday, after the company announced that managing director and CEO Robert Kelly will temporarily stand aside amid an external investigation into a workplace complaint against him.
Declines in Resmed (-4.3%), Pro Medicus (-1.9%) and Cochlear (-1.8%) saw healthcare (-1%) lead sectoral losses.
Australian shares to open lower ahead of RBA rate call this week
The news: Australian shares are set to open lower as investors prepare for the Reserve Bank's next interest rate decision, due on Tuesday.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEDT:
- ASX futures: down 19 points to 8,854
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.09%, S&P 500 up 0.26% and Nasdaq up 0.61%
- Europe: CAC 40 down 0.44%, DAX down 0.67% and FTSE 100 down 0.44%
- Spot gold: up 0.50% to USD4,004 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 0.62% to USD64.77/bbl and US WTI up 0.68% to USD60.98/bbl
- AUD: down 0.12% at 65.49 US cents
- Bitcoin: down 0.15% to USD109,905.
The context: Wall Street's three main indices lifted on Friday, boosted by positive results from tech majors Amazon and Apple.
Investors head into another week of third-quarter earnings in the US, with Advanced Micro Devices, Qualcomm and Palantir among those reporting.
Monthly jobs data scheduled for release on 7 November is set to be delayed as the US government shutdown continues. Having started on 1 October, it is now the second-longest shutdown of its kind, only behind the 2018-19 shutdown which lasted 35 days.
In the local market this week, traders will look to the next interest rate announcement by the RBA on Tuesday. The central bank is widely expected to keep rates on hold after a sharper-than-expected inflation rise in September.
Elsewhere, Qantas, Nine Entertainment, Seven West Media, NIB and Vicinity Centres are among the companies hosting annual general meetings this week.
The source: Reuters
