ASX jumps 1.4% as BHP and CSL pace gains
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More news: Australian shares continued to climb in afternoon trade as market giants BHP and CSL powered a broad rally, with all sectoral indices moving into the green.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 118.8 points, or 1.38%, to 8,757.8 at 2pm AEST.
The materials and healthcare sectors each added more than 2% as miner BHP (3%) and biotech CSL (3.2%) both surged.
BHP climbed after beating estimates for fourth quarter production. Rival iron ore miner Rio Tinto also rose 2%, while lithium producers Liontown Resources (10.1%), Pilbara Minerals (8.1%) and Mineral Resources (6.3%) soared after spodumene prices lifted overnight.
CSL rebounded strongly having dipped earlier in the week as US President Donald Trump unveiled plans for new US tariffs on pharmaceuticals. Fellow biotech company Mesoblast was the top performing ASX 200 stock, rocketing 38% after reporting $20 million in quarterly sales following the commercial launch of its Ryoncil treatment in the US.
Meanwhile, coal miner Yancoal and drinks retailer Endeavour Group were the two worst performers across the ASX 200. Yancoal fell 6.3% after reporting a decline in sales in the June quarter. Endeavour dropped 2.7% as Morgan Stanley downgraded the BWS and Dan Murphy's owner due to ongoing softness in the local retail market.
ASX opens higher; BHP rallies on record output
More news: Australian shares climbed at the open, tracking a surge on Wall Street overnight, as technology and mining stocks led gains.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 54.9 points, or 0.64%, to 8,693.9 at 10:40am AEST. Eight of the 11 sectoral indices were in the green.
Technology was the best performing sector, up 1.4%, with its three largest stocks WiseTech, Xero and Technology One all up around 1.3%. App developer Life360 jumped 3.2%.
Miners were 1.2% higher as iron ore giants BHP (1.8%), Fortescue (1.4%) and Rio Tinto (1%) lifted. This morning BHP reported record full-year iron ore and copper production, landing within guidance, boosted by steady demand from China’s export industries.
Lithium miners Pilbara Minerals (4.8%), Liontown Resources (4.2%) and Mineral Resources (4.1%) were also among the ASX 200 best performers.
Meanwhile, toll road operator Atlas Arteria (1.9%) was the worst performing ASX 200 company after the Supreme Court of Virginia blocked it from increasing rates at its Dulles Greenway highway.
Australian shares to rise as earnings, economic data drive Wall Street surge
The news: Australian shares are poised to open higher after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq notched fresh record highs, driven by strong second-quarter earnings from major companies and better-than-expected economic data.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: up 32 points, or 0.37%, to 8,650
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.52%, S&P 500 up 0.54%, and Nasdaq up 0.75%
- Europe: CAC 40 up 1.29%, DAX up 1.51%, and FTSE 100 up 0.52%
- Spot gold: down 0.24% to USD3,339 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 0.14% to USD69.62/bbl, and US WTI up 1.85% to USD67.61/bbl
- AUD: down 0.66% to 64.83 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 1.13% to USD120,826.
The context: The three major US indices all ended higher overnight, bolstered by positive earnings results from PepsiCo (7.5%), United Airlines (3.1%) and Netflix (1.9%).
Tech stocks rallied as semiconductor giant TSMC set out a bullish outlook and boosted confidence in AI spending.
Elsewhere, new economic data showed that US retail sales advanced in June, while jobless claims lowered for a fifth straight week, easing concerns about consumer spending and suggesting resilience in the job market.
