ASX starts higher as Reece Group soars; Viva Energy plunges
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More news: Australian shares climbed at the open as miners led early gains. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 39 points, or 0.45%, to 8,812.5 at 10:30am AEST. Six of the 11 sectoral indices were in positive territory.
Mining stocks rose 2.5% iron ore majors Fortescue (+3.4%), Rio Tinto (+2%) and BHP (+1.3%) all advanced. Gold producers Genesis Minerals (+8.7%), Bellevue Gold (+7.8%) and Regis Resources (+7.5%) also opened sharply higher.
Plumbing supplier Reece Group was the top performer on the ASX 200, rocketing 13% after announcing a $250 million share buyback this morning.
Fuel retailer Viva Energy was the worst performer, sinking 12% following the resignation of convenience and mobility CEO Jevan Bouzo.
Australian shares to rise as Wall Street extends Fed-fuelled rally
The news: Australian shares are set to open higher this morning after US stocks rallied late last week, spurred by the Federal Reserve's first interest rate cut in nine months.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: up 31 points, or 0.35%, to 8,834
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.37%, S&P 500 up 0.49% and Nasdaq up 0.72%
- Europe: CAC 40 down 0.01%, DAX down 0.15% and FTSE 100 down 0.12%
- Spot gold: up 1.13% to USD3,685 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent down 0.03% at USD66.66/bbl and US WTI down 1.34% to USD62.72/bbl
- AUD: down 0.26% to 65.97 US cents
- Bitcoin: down 0.32% to USD115,393.
The context: Wall Street stocks surged last week after the Fed announced its first rate cut of the year and signalled more easing to come. The move saw all four major US equity benchmarks close at record highs for the first time since November 2021.
Market watchers are expecting interest-rate sensitive areas including small caps and consumer discretionary shares to be particularly boosted by the rate call.
New US data in the coming week will shed more light on the housing market, including on existing and new home sales.
The source: Reuters
