Australian shares rose on Wednesday after a two-session slide, helped by mining and energy stocks on strong underlying commodity prices, while heavyweights Rio Tinto and Woodside Energy jumped after reporting June-quarter production results.
The S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 0.7% to 7,332.20 by 0046 GMT, also tracking global markets which rose overnight as upbeat earnings on Wall Street and retail sales pointing to a resilient US economy sealed expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike rates next week.
In Sydney, miners rose 0.1% after iron ore prices closed higher overnight, boosted by heightened expectations of more supportive measures from China following weaker-than-expected economic data.
Rio Tinto advanced 0.2%, even though its second-quarter iron ore shipments missed analysts’ estimates and the miner flagged concerns about a global economic slowdown.
BHP Group added 0.6%, while Fortescue Metals Group fell 0.6%.
Energy stocks jumped 1.7% as oil prices rose on China’s pledge to support economic growth, tighter supply from Russia and lower weekly US crude oil inventories.
Australia shares fall on hawkish central bank minutes
Woodside Energy climbed 1.2% even after reporting a second-quarter revenue that missed estimates due to weaker liquefied natural gas prices and maintenance work at some of its facilities in Western Australia.
Fuel retailer Ampol gained 5.9% after it said its Lytton refinery margin for June improved to $12.69 per barrel, reflecting improved production mix as the refinery returned to normal operations by the end of May as planned. Financials jumped 1.5%, with the so-called “big-four” banks trading in positive territory.
Tech stocks tracked their Wall Street peers higher and were last up 1.3%. ASX-listed shares of Block jumped 1.4%, while Computershare gained 1.5%.
New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index climbed 0.2% to 11,953.48.
The country’s consumer inflation came in slightly above expectations in the second quarter, driving swap rates higher as the market pushed out expectations for when the central bank might start cutting the cash rate.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.