ASX opens higher led by utilities and energy stocks
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More news: Australian shares opened higher, with utilities, energy and financial stocks pacing gains.
The benchmark ASX 200 index was up 66.7 points, or 0.76%, to 8,849 at 10:30am AEDT. Nine of the 11 sectorial indices opened in the green.
Utilities sector (+1.73%) led early gains, lifted by Origin Energy (+1.48%), APA Group (+0.22%), AGL Energy (+0.23%) and Genesis Energy (+0.95%).
IperionX (+3.11%) was one of the top performers across the ASX 200 after receiving a prototype order to produce lightweight titanium components for the US army.
However, Generation Development Group (-5.15%) was one of the worst performers at the open, despite flagging a surge in funds under management.
Mining (-0.53%) was the worst performing sector, with the fall led by Fortescue (-1.86%), Northern Star (-3.57%), Evolution Mining (-2.77%) and Gold Corporation (-1.45%).
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is scheduled to release labour force data for December at 11:30am AEDT.
Australian shares to rise as Wall St rebounds on Trump’s Greenland backdown
The news: Australian shares are set to open higher after the S&P 500 and Dow Jones rallied, initially rising after Donald Trump ruled out using military force to acquire Greenland during an address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, then extending gains after he announced a framework deal on the territory in a later post on social media.
Wall Street's main indices climbed more than 1%. The moves also helped ease volatility, with the CBOE Volatility index falling from the mid-November high reached in the previous session.
The numbers: Updated at 7:44am AEDT:
- ASX futures: up 17 points, or 0.19% to 8,810.
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 1.27%, S&P 500 up 1.28% and the Nasdaq up 1.30%.
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.08%, DAX down 0.58% and FTSE 100 up 0.11%.
- Spot gold: up 1.17% to USD4,819 per ounce.
- Oil prices: Brent up 0.61% to USD65.32/bbl and US WTI up 0.49% to USD60.65/bbl.
- AUD: up 0.35% at 67.60 US cents.
- Bitcoin: up 1.94% to USD90,095.
The context: The S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones traded higher on Wednesday after Trump said he won’t use military force to acquire Greenland, instead calling for expedited negotiations during his address at the World Economic Forum.
Moreover, Trump also said the US would no longer impose tariffs on certain European countries after reaching what he described as a “framework of a future deal” on Greenland and the broader Arctic region with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
The majority of the S&P 500 sub-sectors were higher, led by energy. Halliburton rose 4.4% after beating earnings estimates, while EQT Corp climbed 6% and Expand Energy rose 3.9% on Wednesday as natural gas prices hit a six-week high due to cold weather demand.
Locally, the Australian Bureau of Statistics is scheduled to release labour force data for December at 11:30am AEDT.
The source: Reuters
