Summary
- The ASX 200 on Thursday opened marginally higher after the US stocks closed mixed overnight.
- The emergence of a new cluster of coronaviruses in Sydney has overshadowed improved global sentiments.
- By 10:30 AM (AEST), the benchmark was trading 0.093% lower, at 7,291.70.
The ASX 200 on Thursday opened marginally higher at 7,303.80, with a gain of 5.30 points after the US stocks closed mixed overnight. The emergence of a new cluster of coronaviruses in Sydney has overshadowed improved global sentiments. By 10:30 AM (AEST), the benchmark was trading 0.093% lower, at 7,291.70.
On Wednesday, the ASX 200 index closed 0.6% lower at 7,298.5 points, after surging the most in nearly four months in the previous session.
While the S&P 500 was down 0.11%, the Dow Jones declined 0.21% in the overnight trade. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite rose 0.13%.
Source: © Stbernardstudio | Megapixl.com
READ MORE: How do I start trading penny stocks in Australia?
What has happened so far?
The domestic market traded down in the early session, for second consecutive day, mainly dragged down by banking stocks.
Health Care was down over 1%, while Energy fell 0.7%. AGL Energy was trading 1.6% lower, Origin Energy fell 1.6% and Seven Group was down 0.6%.
Industrials slipped 0.6%. On the other hand, Information & Technology was up 2% and Metals & Mining was up 0.6%.
The index has lost 0.91% in the last five days and sits 1.55% below its 52-week high.
The broader All Ordinaries index was up 0.064%, while the ASX 200 VIX Index was up 0.199%.
Source: ASX website; as of 10:30 AM (AEST)
Australian dollar and bond yields
The Australian dollar was trading 0.01% higher, at 0.7574. On Wednesday, the dollar index futures closed the session up by 0.04% at 91.785.
The Australian 10-year bond yields were trading 0.20% higher, at 1.527. The 10-year US Treasury yield last traded at 1.4869% on Wednesday.
READ MORE: Which are the top dividend stocks in Australia?
Commodity space
On Wednesday, crude oil prices again surged to their highest level in more than two years after an industry report on US crude inventories reinforced investors’ views of a tightening market. Brent crude futures closed 0.41% up, at US$75.12 a barrel on Wednesday, while WTI crude futures gained 0.19%, to US$72.99 per barrel.
The crude oil WTI futures were trading 0.23% higher, US$73.25.
Source: ©Flynt | Megapixl.com
On Wednesday, gold prices ticked up further from the seven-week lows hit last week after the US dollar weakened. Spot gold was up 0.4% at US$1,785.32 an ounce by 12:34 PM EDT and the US gold futures were up 0.5% at US$1,786.60 per ounce.
The gold futures were trading 0.24% lower, at 1,779.45.
Metals update
The most-actively traded coking coal futures contract for the September month delivery on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed at 2,037 yuan (US$314.24) per tonne.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) had risen by 2% to US$9,489 per tonne by 1600 GMT.
Copper futures were trading 0.09% higher, at US$4.3210.
Newsmakers
Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX:WBC) said it would retain full ownership of its New Zealand operations to protect shareholder value. Earlier in March, the company had threatened to exit the country due to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s tough capital requirements.
The Victorian government has selected CIMIC Group’s (ASX:CIM) Pacific Partnerships, CPB Contractors and Ventia, together with other members of the Spark consortium as the preferred proponent to deliver the North East Link Primary Package PPP in Melbourne.
Transurban (ASX:TCL) said that it will pay a final distribution of 21.5 cents per stapled security.
Bathurst Resources (ASX:BRL) announced that the company would exceed the 2021 financial year EBITDA guidance of AU$55.4 million. In January, the company had revised FY21 EBITDA guidance down to AU$55.4 million.
