Australian shares opened higher, buoyed by a rise in tech stocks, particularly Tesla and Amazon, which lifted the Nasdaq amid mixed performance on Wall Street. At 11:35am, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.17 per cent higher at 7,995.60, with four of 11 sectors posting gains.
In the US, the Dow Jones fell 0.5%, the S&P dropped 0.3%, while the Nasdaq gained 0.3%. Investor anxiety persists over the pace of the US economic slowdown, with the August jobs report expected to be pivotal. If job growth significantly underperforms, fears of a recession could impact equities.
Commodities fluctuated, with iron ore declining, while oil and gold saw modest changes. Key stocks included Pacific Smiles, which fell 1.4% following the CEO’s resignation announcement, and Woodside Energy, down 0.9% after raising $US2 billion in bonds to fund acquisitions in Texas and Louisiana.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 15 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector is Financials, up 0.8 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Energy, down 1.33 per cent.
The best-performing large cap is Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG), trading 1.77 per cent higher at $223.86. It is followed by shares in Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:TLX) and Aristocrat Leisure (ASX:ALL).
The worst-performing large cap is GQG Partners (ASX:GQG), trading 3.75 per cent lower at $2.435. It is followed by shares in Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) and Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC).
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2545.00 an ounce.
Iron ore is 1.9 per cent lower at US$90.50 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.5 per cent fall.
One Australian dollar is buying 67.34 US cents.