ASX 200 futures are pointing down 44 points or 0.5% to 9003 near 8am AEDT after logging a fourth straight gain, with eight of the eleven major sectors higher, led by energy and telecommunications. Reporting season beats also supported a broad risk-on session.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 79.20 or 0.9% to 9086.20, as the bourse hit a new intraday record during the session. Eight of the market’s 11 sectors rose, led by the energy sector, while banks and miners also had a solid day.
The increase came as new figures showed unemployment was steady to start the year at 4.1% despite a solid increase in the total number of Australians with a full-time job. The Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday morning said the country created more than 50,500 full-time jobs in January. This was offset by a near-33,000 drop in the number of part-time workers.
Amid a flurry of corporate results, Telstra rose 3.6% as it reported a $1.2 billion half-year profit, up 8.1%. The telco giant is reaping the rewards of aggressive cost-cutting that has shed more than 2300 jobs in six months, while it also warned consumers may face higher mobile bills over a $7.2 billion government spectrum charge. Retail giant Wesfarmers slumped 5.6% after missing expectations as the Bunnings and Kmart operator unveiled a 3.1% rise in sales to $24.2 billion and a 9.1% rise in profit to $1.6 billion in the first half. Bunnings’ sales grew 4% to nearly $10.7 billion over the six-month period, while Kmart Group’s revenue gained 3.2% to $6.4 billion. Target, which is part of the Kmart Group, was a drag on the result, with lower-than-expected clothing sales. Coles Group and Woolworths each lost 0.1% in early trade. Medibank lost 5.6% after reporting an 11% fall in half-year net profit.
Mining stocks had a strong day, with BHP up 1.8%, Rio Tinto up 2% and Fortescue up 0.7%. Late on Thursday, Rio reported a $14.1 billion full-year profit after boosting its output of key commodities, copper and iron ore, from its Pilbara operations. Gold players also advanced with Northern Star adding 1.2 per cent and Evolution Mining rising 2.4 per cent. Silver major South32 edged up 0.5%.
Energy was the best performing sector after a jump in oil prices, as traders weighed whether talks between the US and Iran will be enough to avert conflict, following a report that American military intervention could come sooner than expected. Woodside Energy jumped 4.5% and Santos surged 5.6%.
Wall Street: AI enthusiasm versus financials and private equity stress
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% and pulled a bit closer to its all-time high, set late last month. The Dow Jones added 129 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.8%.
Nvidia helped lift the market and climbed 1.6% after Meta Platforms announced a long-term partnership in which it will use millions of chips and other equipment from Nvidia for its artificial-intelligence data centres. “No one deploys AI at Meta’s scale,” Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang said. Because his company is the most valuable on Wall Street, Nvidia’s stock was the single most powerful force pulling the S&P 500 higher.
That performance demonstrated the upside of AI development for the US sharemarket. But investors have also focused on the potential downsides recently, which has led to sharp swings for Wall Street. Worries are rising, for example, about how much companies such as Meta are spending on AI and whether they can make back their huge investments through higher profits and productivity in the future.
Meta’s shares fell as much as 1.7% before recovering and rising 0.6%. Outside of earnings reports, Moderna jumped 6.1% after saying regulators at the Food and Drug Administration will review its flu vaccine candidate after earlier refusing to consider it.
Europe: industrial and miners weigh on a weaker session
European sharemarkets slipped on Thursday, with most of the major regional bourses trading in negative territory.
Airbus shares fell 6.8% after the world's largest planemaker softened its main jet production target.
Rio Tinto declined 3.7% after the firm reported flat annual earnings that missed expectations on weaker iron ore prices.
The continent-wide FTSEurofirst 300 and the UK FTSE 100 indexes both shed 0.6%.
Choppy currencies
Currencies were choppy against the US dollar in European and US trade.
- The Euro fell from US$1.1808 to US$1.1742 and was near US$1.1770 at the US close.
- The Aussie dollar dipped from US70.78 cents to US70.26 cents and was near US70.55 cents at the US close.
- The Japanese yen rose from 155.31 yen per US dollar to JPY154.53 and was near JPY155.05 at the US close.
Commodities: oil hits 6-month highs; metals and gold ease; iron ore slips
Global oil prices rose 1.9% on Thursday to their highest level in six months, as traders worried about escalating tensions between the United States and Iran, which have stepped up military activity in the oil-producing Middle East.
- The Brent crude price rose by US$1.31 or 1.9% to US$71.66 a barrel.
- The US Nymex crude price added US$1.24 or 1.9% to US$66.43 a barrel.
Base metal prices fell on Thursday.
- Copper futures slid 1.1% as a firmer US dollar, rising inventories and reduced demand in China, weighed on prices.
- Aluminium futures slipped 0.8%.
- Gold futures settled US$12.10 or 0.2% lower at US$4,997.40 an ounce on Thursday, as investors assessed US-Iran tensions, while a drop in US jobless claims signalled labour market stability ahead of inflation data later this week. Spot gold was trading near US$4,998 at the US close.
- Iron ore futures dipped US13 cents or 0.1% to US$99.61 a tonne on Thursday, with China's markets offline for the Lunar New Year break, amid a loosening of the seaborne market.
Looking ahead: PMIs, a busy ASX results slate and key US macro prints
Looking Ahead: In Australia, S&P Global purchasing managers' indexes (PMIs) are released.
Around 25 ASX-listed companies are scheduled to report earnings results, including Guzman y Gomez, Inghams, Megaport, Mineral Resources, Newmont, QBE Insurance and Telix Pharmaceuticals. BlueScope Steel trades ex-dividend.
US data on economic (GDP) growth, personal income & spending, PCE inflation and new home sales are due with S&P Global PMIs.