Source : Perth Now news
Australian shares have started the week on the front foot despite ongoing bond market and inflation worries, as rebounding metals prices supercharge mining stocks.
The S&P/ASX200 rose 59.6 points by midday, up 0.68 per cent, to 8776.2, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 55.4 points, or 8933.1, to 0.62.
The move followed Wall Street’s strong close to the week, despite ongoing concerns around global bond yields and the Iran war, while the local market faces a host of local headwinds including high interest rates and softening home prices, Moomoo chief market strategist Tapas Strickland said.
“Treasury yields and crude oil are the twin wildcards hovering over broader market confidence,” Mr Strickland said.
“Weekend attacks on shipping serve as a reminder the conflict is far from over and Brent oil ticked higher this morning.”
Brent crude has eased to $US103.25 a barrel since Friday, after US President Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to halt strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure, following a diesel supply deal the president struck with Russia.
The US-Iran stalemate shows no sign of easing, after Iran called a US response to its proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz shipping route “insufficient”.
The local energy sector lost 0.9 per cent as the easing oil price weighed on Woodside, Santos, Viva and Ampol, while coal miners and uranium stocks improved.
Aussie miners provided most of the market’s forward momentum as the raw materials sector surged almost two per cent on the back of resurgent copper and precious metals prices.
BHP shares jumped 2.6 per cent to $62.52 per share, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue gained 1.1 per cent and 1.6 per cent respectively
Gold stocks continued to recover from their recent sell off as the precious metal traded at $US4206 ($A6,017) an ounce.
Rare earths producers remained under pressure, with Lynas and Iluka both shedding at least 1.9 per cent, while lithium producers PLS and Liontown inched higher.
Financials were also on the move, up 0.8 per cent as Westpac led the big four higher with a 1.8 per cent lift to $34.32, while CommBank shares traded 0.4 per cent higher to $149.82.
Communications stocks trailed the other 10 segments, losing 1.8 per cent as Telstra, TPG Telecom and REA Group all sold off.
Consumer-facing stocks were in the red, with staples down 0.7 per cent and cyclicals falling 0.2 per cent in broad-based moves.
At a company level, Gina Rinehart-back Arafura Rare Earths has inked an offtake agreement with an unnamed global raw materials trading company working under the US government’s Project Vault scheme.
Shares in NZ-headquartered aged care provider Ryman Healthcare surged after it boosted second-quarter resale volumes by 14 per cent on the equivalent quarter, driven by serviced apartment demand.
The Australian dollar is buying 69.90 US cents, up from 69.83 US cents on Friday at 5pm.
