ASX 200 gains at open; energy stocks shine as Brent crude nears US$140

Highlights

• The ASX 200 was trading 0.31% up at 7,113.8 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
• Brent crude oil rallied sharply to over US$139 per barrel mark on Monday.
• The energy index was the top gainer, surging 4.69% in early trade.

The Australian share market opened on a positive note on Monday, with energy stocks buoyed on the back of soaring oil prices. Brent crude oil massively rallied to over US$139 per barrel mark, jumping as much as 18% in a matter of minutes. An almost panic buying situation in the energy market has continued from last week, with the crude oil having surged 21% already. The ASX 200 was trading 0.31% or 22.3 points up at 7,113.8 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

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US Jobs data showed a strength in the US jobs market which strengthened the US dollar and helped commodity prices jump higher. However, the data was overshadowed by the adverse global impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war and the euro plunged on the deteriorating outlook for slower European economic growth.

Wall Street ended lower on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.53% to end at 33,614.8 points, while the S&P 500 closed 0.79% lower at 4,328.87. The NASDAQ Composite dropped 1.66% to 13,313.44.

How has the market performed so far?

The ASX 200 plunged to the negative territory briefly after opening in the green and was now down 0.63% or 44.7 points to 7,066.1, by 11:00 AM AEDT. The ASX All Ordinaries index fell 0.75% to 7,3397 while the A-VIX shot up 3.89% to 17.73.

Coming to the top ASX 200 losers, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield Limited CDI (ASX:URW) and Qantas Airways (ASX:QAN) were the top index losers, falling 8.17% and 7.1%, respectively. On the other hand, the stocks trying to keep the index from falling were Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX:WPL) and Gold Road Resources Limited (ASX:GOR), gaining 6.26% and 5.97%, respectively.

On the sectoral front, seven out of the 11 sectors were trading lower today. The energy index was the top gainer, surging 4.69%, followed by a 1.1% rise in the materials sector. The IT sector has taken a sizable hit of 3.3% so far.     

Read More: BPT, NST and GMG - Three ASX shares on investors’ radar to fight inflation

Newsmakers

1. Appen Limited (ASX:APX)

• Appen has acquired a minority stake in Mindtech Global Limited, a synthetic data company which specialises in the creation of high-quality training data for AI computer vision models.
• Appen has shelled out a total of GBP2 million for the stake.
• The company does not anticipate a material revenue impact from the partnership in 2022.

2. AGL Energy Limited (ASX:AGL)

• The management of AGL has rejected an offer from a consortium led by Brookfield Asset Management Inc for 100% acquisition of AGL.
• The board believes the offer was well below both the fair value of the company and the expected value of the proposed demerger.
• The consortium had offered AU$8.25 per share for the acquisition of AGL.

3. Suvo Strategic Minerals Limited (ASX:SUV)

• The company has received firm commitments from institutional investors to raise up to AU$7.5 million via a share placement.
• Amounts raised will be primarily used to fund the expansion of the Pittong hydrous kaolin plant.
• The expansion is planned to happen in parallel with existing operations.

4. Recce Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX:RCE)

• An Independent Safety Committee data review of 10 healthy human subjects dosed in the Phase I clinical trial of RECCE® 327 (R327), demonstrated good safety and tolerability.
• The Phase I trial is an ascending dose, randomised, placebo-controlled, parallel, double-blind, single-dose study.
• The study is on track to have all Phase I dosing complete by Q2 2022.

5. Credit Clear Limited (ASX:CCR)

• The company signed a total of 18 clients in February 2022.
• The new client wins represent a minimum of over AU$1.5 million in expected additional revenue in the coming 12 months.
• It also announced that digital payment plans set up by ARMA Clients now exceed AU$2 million in 13 days since ARMA’s integration with CCR.

Read More: Why Telstra (ASX:TLS) is on investors’ radar amid Russia-Ukraine conflict