Australian shares seesawed at the open as investors await further news of US trade talks with China set to take place this weekend. US futures pared an earlier rise.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index edged up 0.1 per cent, or 4.1 points, to 8195.8 points near 10.30am, bucking a rally on Wall Street. Five of 11 sectors were in the green, led by technology. The All Ordinaries edged up less than 0.1 per cent.
Stocks teetered and US futures fell as investors shrugged off a trade “framework” announced by US and UK officials that will see tariffs on British cars, steel and aluminium to America lowered or scrapped. Both parties said the details of the framework were still being finalised.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will commence talks this weekend in Switzerland with representatives from China. Iron ore partially reversed Thursday’s losses, edging up 0.3 per cent to $US96.85 a tonne as investors await more news.
Capital Economics North America economist Paul Ashworth said the “full and comprehensive” trade deal with the UK teased by Trump had in reality been “no such thing”, adding investors were turning their attention to talks with China this weekend.
Broad losses swept across the ASX 200, led by miners, as investors remained cautious ahead of the talks. Iron ore giant BHP dropped 1.1 per cent and Fortescue fell 0.8 per cent.
Those losses wrestled with a rally in technology stocks, tracking the tech-heavy Nasdaq Index’s more than 1 per cent advance. WiseTech jumped 2.5 per cent.
Energy stocks rallied, with oil and gas giant Woodside advancing 1.5 per cent, and Santos 1.4 per cent, after oil rebounded on hopes for a US-China deal.
Bitcoin held above $US102,000, resetting a three-month-high amid the risk-on mood in US trading.
In corporate news, Macquarie Group jumped 4 per cent after full-year profit rose 5 per cent to $3.7 billion, bolstered by strong profit growth from the bank’s asset management division.
CoStar has struck a deal to buy real estate platform Domain for $2.8 billion after months of negotiations. Shares in Domain, which is majority-owned by Nine Entertainment, rose 2.6 per cent, while Nine advanced 3.6 per cent.
REA Group edged down 0.8 per cent on news of the Domain deal. That’s despite the rival real estate platform posting a 18 per cent jump in commercial revenues in the nine months to March.
GQG Partners gained 3.7 per cent despite a drop in April inflows, driven by a moderating of flows in to the firm’s US and international equity strategies.
Avita Medical plunged 18.7 per cent despite reaffirming expectations for a 55 per cent to 65 per cent jump in full-year commercial revenue after the wound care product provider reported significant growth in both new and existing customer accounts.
And Alcoa rose 3.7 per cent after it announced Thomas Gorman, the long-time chief executive of Brambles, had been appointed chair.
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