ASX opens lower as NextDC and Austal surge; Mesoblast and Pexa dive
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More news: Australian shares edged down at the open as the final round of ASX earnings saw NextDC, Austal and Harvey Norman lead gains, while Mesoblast, Pexa Group and Steadfast Group sold off.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 23.3 points, or 0.26%, to 8,956.7 at 10:30am AEST. Seven of the 11 sectoral indices were in positive territory.
Data centre operator NextDC (+18.6%) was the best performer on the ASX 200, after full-year revenue outstripped the company's guidance. Shipbuilder Austal (+17.2%) and retailer Harvey Norman (+11.7%) also saw double-digit gains following their full-year earnings reports.
Moving in the other direction were biotech Mesoblast (-11.6%) and property settlement company Pexa Group (-11.3%), which both reported this morning, and insurance broker Steadfast Group (-8.1%), which reported last night.
Australian shares to open lower as profit season wraps and Wall Street hits new highs
The news: Australian shares are poised to open lower on the final day of earnings season, after US stocks notched fresh record closes overnight as tech megacap Nvidia's second-quarter report appeared to spur a rally in AI-related companies.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: down 32 points, or 0.4%, to 8,926
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.16%, S&P 500 up 0.32% and Nasdaq up 0.53%
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.24%, DAX down 0.03% and FTSE 100 down 0.42%
- Spot gold: up 0.58% to USD3,417 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent down 0.49% to USD67.65/bbl and US WTI up 0.27% to USD64.32/bbl
- AUD: up 0.37% to 65.30 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 0.66% to USD112,079.
The context: The S&P 500 and Dow Jones climbed to new highs as Nvidia's report showed a robust demand outlook for artificial intelligence technology, even as it sent shares in the chipmaker 0.8% lower. Other giants in the space, such as Google parent Alphabet (+2%), Amazon (+1.1%) and rival chipmaker Broadcom (+2.8%), rallied.
Wall Street was also boosted by new economic data that showed the US economy expanded faster than anticipated in the second quarter. The US Bureau of Economic Analysis is due to release its monthly core personal consumption expenditures index — the Federal Reserve's favoured inflation gauge — at 10:30pm AEST today.
In the local market, retailer Harvey Norman, insurance broker Steadfast Group, and uranium pair Paladin Energy and Boss Energy are among the ASX companies rounding off earnings season this morning.
