Australia: Shares gain as miners outweigh losses in energy stocks

AUSTRALIAN shares rose on Tuesday, led by miners on the back of firmer commodity prices, while tech stocks followed their US peers lower and energy stocks fell after oil prices tumbled overnight.

The S&P/ASX 200 index gained 0.3 per cent to 6,687.6, as of 0022 GMT. The benchmark closed 1.4 per cent lower on Monday.

Miners were the top gainers with a rise of more than 1 per cent, after iron ore prices jumped on Monday due to higher demand for the steelmaking ingredient in top steel producer China.

Australia’s biggest miners BHP group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group rose between 1.1 per cent and 1.6 per cent.

Syrah Resources jumped 6.6 per cent to its highest since Sept 20 after the graphite explorer announced a restart of its operations at the Balama project in Mozambique, two weeks after being hit by interruptions.

Healthcare stocks advanced as much as 0.9 per cent, with biotechnology giant CSL rising 0.2 per cent.

Technology stocks weakened 0.5 per cent after the Nasdaq fell to its lowest since July 2020 as investors pulled out of chipmakers on US restrictions aimed at hobbling China’s semiconductor industry.

Energy stocks fell as much as 1.6 per cent after oil prices sank nearly 2 per cent overnight to snap a five-session gaining streak.

Woodside Energy and Santos dropped 1.8 per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively.

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Among individual stocks, retailer Baby Bunting Group fell more than 24 per cent and was set to record its worst session ever after posting a steep decline in first-quarter margins.

Mirvac Group said its chief executive officer Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz and chair John Mulcahy would both retire. Shares of the property company were down 1.3 per cent.

New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose by 0.4 per cent to 10,959.78.

Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.7 per cent and the S&P 500 E-minis futures were down 0.1 per cent. REUTERS