Australian shares open flat as energy and mining stocks rally
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More news: Australian shares opened flat on the final trading day of the year, with gains in energy and mining stocks offsetting losses across the wider market.
The benchmark ASX 200 index was down 1.1 points, or 0.01%, to 8,716 at 10:40am AEDT. Eight of the 11 sectoral indices were in negative territory.
Energy (+0.6%) was the top performing sector, as oil majors Woodside Energy (+1.1%) and Santos (+0.7%) extended gains from Tuesday.
Miners (+0.5%) also pulled higher, with iron ore giant BHP adding 1% and gold producers Greatland Resources (+2.7%), Newmont (+1.5%) and Evolution Mining (+1%) advancing.
Muted Wall Street sets tone for flat Australian shares
The news: Australian stocks are set to remain steady after muted trading on Wall Street overnight.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEDT:
- ASX futures: up 5 points to 8,739
- Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.17%, S&P 500 flat and Nasdaq down 0.10%
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.69%, DAX up 0.57% and FTSE 100 up 0.75%
- Spot gold: up 0.20% to USD4,341.44 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent down 0.15% to USD61.34/bbl and US WTI down 0.17% to USD57.91/bbl
- AUD: flat at 66.95 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 1.04% to USD88,039.
The context: The US’ three main indices were relatively flat in overnight, as a lack of catalysts left stocks struggling for momentum. Silver and gold both rose slightly after declining from record highs this week.
Gains from communication services, including a 1.2% rise for Meta Platforms, were set back by declines in financial and technology stocks. Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft all dropped slightly — ending their six session winning streak.
