ASX opens higher as Helia Group and Domino's dive
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More news: Australian shares climbed in early trading as utilities and mining stocks led gains, while troubled mortgage insurance provider Helia Group and pizza chain Domino's both tumbled.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 39 points, or 0.46%, to 8,580.1 at 10:30am AEST. 10 of the 11 sectoral indices were in the green.
The utilities sector added 1.3%, boosted by a 1.6% jump in Origin Energy. Mining stocks rose 1.2%, as iron ore heavyweights Fortescue (1.7%) and BHP (1.2%) lifted.
Building products group James Hardie surged 6.3% after sealing its acquisition of outdoor living business AZEK.
Meanwhile, Helia dropped 26.5% after warning that ING Bank is in negotiations with an alternative provider, compounding the expected loss of its Commonwealth Bank contract, and triggering an internal review.
Domino's was the second worst performing ASX 200 company, falling 16.2%, after announcing the departure of CEO and managing director Mark van Dyck after only eight months in the role.
Australian shares to rise as big tech drags Wall Street lower
The news: Australian shares are poised to rise at the open after a mixed session on Wall Street, where Tesla led a selloff in tech stocks.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: up 18 points, or 0.21%, to 8,558
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.91%, S&P 500 down 0.11%, and Nasdaq down 0.82%
- Europe: CAC 40 down 0.04%, DAX down 0.99%, and FTSE 100 up 0.28%
- Spot gold: up 1.08% to USD3,339 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 0.1% to USD67.18/bbl, and US WTI up 0.65% to USD65.53/bbl
- AUD: down 0.03% to 65.81 US cents
- Bitcoin: down 0.11% to USD105,836.
The context: The Dow Jones ended higher as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell after tech megacaps sold off following a bullish run in recent sessions.
Tesla shed 5.34% after US President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw US government subsidies from Elon Musk’s electric car company, as the public feud between the former allies resurfaced.
Nvidia (-2.97%), Meta Platforms (-2.56%) and Microsoft (-1.08%) were also among those to fall.
Meanwhile, new economic data supported the Federal Reserve's patient stance on rate cuts, weighing on investor sentiment. US job openings in May reached the highest level since November last year.
However, speaking during a panel in Portugal, Fed chair Jerome Powell did not rule out the possibility of a July rate cut.
Elsewhere, Trump said he was not considering extending the 9 July deadline for countries to negotiate on US tariffs, easing market concerns over extended uncertainty.
