Australian shares swung between losses and gains on Friday morning amid reports the Israeli Air Force conducted a strike on Iran.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index opened higher before falling 3.8 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 8563.4 by 10.30am in Sydney, with six out of 11 sectors declining.
West Texas Intermediate oil prices, the US benchmark, rose as much as 6.2 per cent as US President Donald Trump warned he saw “a chance of a massive conflict” between Israel and Iran.
Overnight, data showed the US producer price index rose 0.1 per cent from a month earlier. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 0.2 per cent increase. Excluding food and energy, the PPI also increased 0.1 per cent.
US equities ended higher in a broad advance, with utilities pacing eight of the S&P 500’s 11 industry sectors higher. Boeing slid 4.8 per cent, recovering from an opening drop after one of its aircrafts crashed in India.
On the ASX, Woodside opened 1.9 per cent higher, while Santos rose 2.5 per cent. Commonwealth Bank rose 0.1 per cent, while National Australia Bank fell 0.2 per cent.
Gold miners rose, with Newmont up 4.8 per cent, Genesis climbing 3.9 per cent, and Evolution gaining 4 per cent.
In corporate news, footwear retailer Accent, which owns the Hype and Platypus chains and fashion outlet Glue Store, plunged 20.8 per cent after warning that sales have flagged post-Christmas.
Hearing implant company Cochlear fell 0.5 per cent after Morningstar equity analyst Shane Ponraj said it remained overvalued amid slower growth in the United States.
Qantas shares dropped 2.9 per cent while Wisetech fell 1.7 per cent.
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