Australia: Shares inch higher as Suez Canal blockage lifts commodities

[BENGALURU] Australian shares edged up on Monday, as higher commodity prices lifted miners and energy stocks on worries that global supplies of crude and refined products could be disrupted for weeks as workers try to dislodge a container blocking the Suez Canal.

The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.1 per cent at 6,830.40 by 0015 GMT. The benchmark closed 0.5 per cent higher on Friday.

Also lifting risk appetite was a report on Monday that showed the country is expecting to log a record A$136 billion (S$139.65 billion) from iron ore exports this financial year in signs of a global steelmaking recovery from the pandemic-led downturn.

Copper prices rose in the previous session as markets worried about the cost repercussions for transporting industrial metals following the Suez Canal blockage.

The mining sub-index jumped nearly 2 per cent in its biggest intraday percentage gain in more than two weeks. Rio Tinto and BHP Group, which have significant copper mining operations, rose as much as 2 per cent and 2.3 per cent, respectively.

Energy stocks rose 1.4 per cent as oil prices spiked on worries over Suez Canal. Sector heavyweight Woodside Petroleum added nearly 1 per cent while Santos advanced 2.3 per cent.

Sentiment was subdued across Asia with Nikkei futures dropping 0.5 per cent to 29,295 points, while S&P 500 E-minis futures were down 0.4 per cent.

Technology stocks curbed gains in the index, with top percentage losers Megaport dropping 3.4 per cent, followed by buy-now-pay-later giant Afterpay, which slipped 2.8 per cent.

Treasury Wine Estates slumped 3.8 per cent after the company said it would face steep anti-dumping tariffs for its Australian wine exports to China.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.58 per cent to 12,420.3, with Meridian Energy rising 3.5 per cent.

Synlait Milk was the biggest loser, down as much as 4.2 per cent after the dairy firm posted a 76 per cent plunge in first-half profit and flagged headwinds in fiscal 2021.

REUTERS