Energy sector climbs as Woodside leads oil stocks rally
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The news: Energy was the best performing ASX 200 sector after morning trade, boosted by a rise in oil and coal stocks even as uranium miners lowered.
The numbers: The energy sector was up 1.5% at 12:45pm AEDT as the ASX 200 index added 0.3%.
Oil companies Woodside Energy (2.1%), Beach Energy (1.9%), Santos (0.7%), Karoon Energy (0.7%) and Ampol (0.4%) were all trading higher, even as oil prices continued to retreat.
Coal mining heavyweights Whitehaven (3%), Yancoal (2.2%) and New Hope (0.8%) all gained, while Australia's largest uranium explorers Paladin Energy (-1.8%), Deep Yellow (-1.7%) and Boss Energy (-1.7%) registered losses.
The context: Shares in Australia's oil companies climbed despite oil falling to near its lowest level since September, dragged down by weak economic data from China.
Global benchmark Brent crude was last down 0.4% to USD70.08 a barrel, with West Texas Intermediate down 0.5% to USD66.74.
China’s consumer inflation fell further than expected in February, dropping below negative for the first time in 13 months. The new data from the world's biggest crude importer added to recent downward pressure on oil prices, including from US import tariffs and rising output from OPEC+ producers.
