Source : Perth Now news
Australia’s share market is licking its wounds and limping toward a modest rebound as investors try to forget the bourse’s worst week in six months.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index gained 12.3 points by midday on Monday, to be up 0.14 per cent to 8,753.5, as the broader All Ordinaries rose 10.7 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 8,930.9.
The uplift tracked a relief rally on Wall Street on Friday, although risks remain as the Middle East conflict keeps upward pressure on oil prices and investors ponder a now 86 per cent chance the US Federal Reserve will hike interest rates, pushing other global borrowing costs higher.
“The S&P/ASX200 shed nearly three per cent last week as geopolitical anxieties and bond-market jitters weighed heavily on sentiment, but the stabilisation in US equity markets provides local buyers a clean springboard,” Moomoo senior market strategist Tapas Strickland said.
“Local resource and energy names will remain front and centre given the strength of the crude oil price over the weekend.”
Brent crude was trading above $US107 a barrel after the expansion of Houthi rebels along Yemen’s coastline and an attack on a Saudi oil pipeline ratcheted up fears for further energy supply disruptions.
The local energy sector jumped 0.7 per cent as Ampol, Woodside, Santos and Viva rallied, while coal producers eased and uranium stocks continued to decline.
Raw materials was the only sector trading lower by lunchtime, falling 0.9 per cent as BHP, Rio Tinto, lithium miners and rare earths producers sold off.
Copper prices have retreated roughly six per cent after reaching all-time highs last week, unwinding from a surge in front-running purchases amid signs the US would ditch planned tariffs on the base metal.
BHP weighed heavily, dropping 1.5 per cent to below $60 for the first time since early August.
Gold miners were mixed, as the precious metal hovered near $US4,344 ($A6,082) an ounce after tracking lower the week before as bets narrowed on a US rate rise.
The heavyweight financials sector rose 0.5 per cent as three of the big four banks improved, while NAB lost ground as QBE led the major insurers higher.
Consumer-facing stocks outperformed other sectors, with staples up 1.3 per cent and cyclicals advancing one per cent, with strong performances from Woolworths, Coles and Aristocrat.
In company news, Telix Pharmaceutical shares surged 2.6 per cent after winning US regulator approval for its brain cancer imaging drug, Pixclara.
Realestate.com.au owner REA Group will ditch contract terms requiring real estate agencies to list all their properties on the website, following a probe by the competition watchdog.
The Australian dollar was buying 71.49 US cents, down from 71.73 US cents on Friday at 5pm, with interest rate markets now pricing a roughly three-in-four chance the Reserve Bank will hike the cash interest rate on September 29.
