ASX opens higher as Westpac, Pro Medicus surge on earnings results
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More news: Australian shares opened higher as a slate of ASX 200 companies rallied after reporting earnings results earlier this morning.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 52.7 points, or 0.6%, to 8,879.8 at 10:30am AEST. Nine of the 11 sectoral indices were in positive territory.
Packaging business Orora (+7.1%), furniture retailer Temple & Webster (+6.7%), and banking major Westpac (+6.5%) were the top performers after releasing positive results today.
Pro Medicus (+5.2%), Origin Energy (+5%) and Suncorp (+4%) also gained after reporting improved full-year profits.
Ventia Services (-4.6%) led losses after its first-half result missed estimates. Telco giant Telstra (-2.6%) and bourse operator ASX (-1.5%) lowered on their full-year reports, while miner South32 dropped 1.5% after flagging a $568 million impairment on its Mozal Aluminium smelter in Mozambique.
Australian shares to rise as rate cut hopes drive Wall Street rally
The news: Australian shares are poised to open higher after the benchmark S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices secured new closing highs overnight, extending the relief rally on Wall Street after new inflation data on Tuesday boosted bets on a Fed rate cut next month.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: up 31 points, or 0.35%, to 8,825 points
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 1.04%, S&P 500 up 0.32% and Nasdaq up 0.14%
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.66%, DAX up 0.67% and FTSE 100 up 0.19%
- Spot gold: up 0.23% to USD3,356 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 0.21% to USD65.77/bbl and US WTI down 0.68% to USD62.74/bbl
- AUD: up 0.20% to 65.41 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 2.22% to USD122,789.
The context: US stocks closed higher as traders priced in a 25 basis-point interest rate cut, according to the CME's FedWatch Tool. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday he thought an aggressive half-point cut was possible, given recent weak employment numbers.
Tech megacaps Microsoft (-1.7%), Nvidia (-0.9%) and Alphabet (-0.6%) all closed lower, but Apple added 1.6% after a Bloomberg report said the iPhone maker is planning to expand into AI-powered robots, home security and smart displays.
In the local market, Telstra, Origin Energy, Pro Medicus and Suncorp are among the companies due to report full-year earnings this morning. Banking major Westpac is set to release its third-quarter report.
