Aussie shares edge up with oil in focus after Venezuela
Adrian Black |
Australia’s share market has started the week almost flat, with oil prices in focus after the United States deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and said it was taking over the Latin American country’s oil supplies.
The main S&P/ASX200 rose 4.9 points by midday, up 0.07 per cent, to 8,773.6, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 3.4 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 9,041.8.
Oil prices lifted slightly over the weekend but were ultimately quite stable on the back of Mr Maduro’s deposal, after OPEC+ indicated it was in no rush to recalibrate crude output in the aftermath.
“The markets will start the week focused and driven on the events in Venezuela over the weekend,” Capital.com market analyst Kyle Rodda said.
“But there’ll also be attention on the knock-on effect to gold prices amidst heightened geopolitical risks, currencies because of what it may mean for the US Dollar (and the trustworthiness of US assets), and equities because of risk appetite.”
Energy stocks outperformed the market, up 1.8 per cent as raw materials and utilities stocks also made gains.
Woodside and Santos each rose one per cent or more, but uranium producers did much of the sector’s heavy lifting, with Paladin, Lotus Resources and Alligator Energy all up ten per cent or more.
Lithium miners like Liontown also befitted from the energy upswing, up more than four per cent, while Lynas Rare Earths surged more than eight per cent to $13.24.
Coal stocks also surged, with Whitehaven and Yancoal each advancing more than two per cent.
Materials were led higher by large cap miners BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue, while gold stocks improved as the precious metal traded near $US4,388 ($A6,570) an ounce.
Shares in metallurgical coal producer Coronado plummeted more than 13 per cent after a worker was killed at its Mammoth underground mine in Queensland, halting operations.
The incident followed another employee death at its Logan mining complex in the US in December.
The heavyweight financials sector faded 0.3 per cent, tracking with a mixed performance from the big four banks, with ANZ and Westpac edging higher, while NAB traded flat and CBA lost 0.2 per cent to $160.75.
Major insurers were also in the red, with IAG, Sunorp and QBE all shedding 1.4 per cent with floods and bushfires ongoing in different parts of the nation.
Australia’s tech sector trailed the other ten, down 1.7 per cent and tracking with similar dips for segment giants Xero and WiseTech Global, despite a lack of company-level news or a particularly strong lead from Wall Street’s Nasdaq on Friday.
Consumer discretionary stocks were also under pressure, down 1.2 per cent, with major names like Wesfarmers, JB Hi Fi and Temple & Webster all selling off.
The Australian dollar is buying 66.77 US cents, down from 66.94 US cents on Friday at 5pm.
AAP
