ASX edges higher, Apple weighs on Wall Street after price rises

The Australian sharemarket has made a steady start to the session, with mining and energy stocks higher, while Wall Street meandered to a mixed finish as Apple fell after hiking prices on many of its products.

The S&P/ASX 200 was up 17.1 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 8765.8 in early trade, with five of 11 industry sectors in positive territory. The Australian dollar was trading at US69.02¢.

Mining stocks have made a strong start to the session, on the back of strengthening commodities prices. BHP added 1 per cent, Rio Tinto rose 2 per cent, and Fortescue was 1.1 per cent higher. Gold miners advanced as the price of the precious metal strengthened overnight after several days of declines that left it below $US4000 ($5797) per ounce this week. Northern Star rose 2 per cent, while Evolution Mining climbed 2.1 per cent in early trade.

Financial stocks are mixed, with Commonwealth Bank sliding 0.5 per cent, National Australia Bank dipping 0.4 per cent, Westpac edging 0.1 per cent lower but ANZ Bank up 0.3 per cent. Judo Bank lost 3 per cent in early trade, adding to Thursday’s 40 per cent loss after it said in an update that three troublesome loans had emerged in recent weeks.

Energy stocks climbed higher after oil prices rose overnight, with traders closely monitoring shipments through the Strait of Hormuz after a vessel was struck by a projectile in the key shipping corridor off the Omani coast, renewing concerns for the safety of passing cargoes amid the US and Iran’s peace negotiations. Woodside Energy rose 0.6 per cent, while Santos added 0.9 per cent. The refiners also climbed, with Ampol up 0.8 per cent and Viva Energy inching 0.1 per cent higher.

Technology stocks are lower, with WiseTech down 3.4 per cent, Xero falling 1.4 per cent, Technology One losing 1.5 per cent and NEXTDC shedding 1.7 per cent.

Overnight, the S&P 500 finished nearly unchanged with a dip of less than 0.1 per cent after swinging between gains and losses throughout the day. The Dow Jones added 71 points, or 0.1 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.5 per cent.

Micron Technology helped to lead the market after jumping 15.7 per cent. The maker of computer memory reported much bigger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts had expected, and it gave a stronger growth forecast for the current quarter than Wall Street had anticipated. That helped to allay worries that its stock had grown too expensive after coming into the day with a surge of 267 per cent so far this year.

Micron and AI stocks have broadly been under pressure recently because of worries that their profits cannot possibly keep pace with the tremendous rallies for their share prices. But beyond Micron, Qualcomm said late on Wednesday that the acceleration of the AI era is forcing it to upgrade forecasts for its own growth in coming years. They’re the latest signals of the deluge of dollars heading into AI data centres and other investments.

Qualcomm said it expects its revenue outside handsets, but including data centres, to hit $US40 billion ($57.9 billion) in fiscal year 2029, or roughly double its prior target. Qualcomm’s stock rose 3.8 per cent.

But the strong demand for computer memory and storage that’s driving profits and stock prices higher for producers is also leading to higher costs for customers. On Thursday, Apple raised prices for many of its products, including increases of 15 to 20 per cent for Mac computers, analysts said. Its stock slumped 6.1 per cent and was the single heaviest weight on the S&P 500.

SpaceX, meanwhile, fell 1 per cent to drop below $US153 for its lowest finish since its ballyhooed debut on the Nasdaq earlier this month.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased to lessen the pressure on stocks and other investment prices. They regressed after a report showed inflation is behaving pretty much as economists had expected.

The report said that a measure of inflation hitting US consumers accelerated to 4.1 per cent last month, from 3.8 per cent in April, but the hope is that inflation is set to ease because of a drop-off in oil prices.

AP, Bloomberg

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