Australia: Shares rise on upbeat earnings, Wall Street optimism

AUSTRALIAN shares opened slightly higher on Monday, tracking a strong finish on the Wall Street last week on signs that U.S. inflation might have peaked, while upbeat earnings by blue-chip companies buoyed the domestic index.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.6 per cent to 7,071 by 0039 GMT.

The benchmark closed lower on Friday but ended the week 0.24 per cent higher.

Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.53 per cent, while S&P 500 E-minis futures were down 0.23 per cent.

Corporate earnings in Australia will pick up pace through the week, with investors eyeing full-year results from global miner BHP Group, followed by Santos and biotech firm CSL.

Aussie miners rose 0.9 per cent, as strong gains in steel producer Bluescope Steel and lithium miner Allkem - up as much as 5 per cent and 3.7 per cent, respectively – helped offset weaker iron ore prices.

Energy stocks fell 0.5 per cent after a 2 per cent decline in crude oil prices on Friday amid recession fears.

Among individual stocks, top loser Beach Energy slumped 10.5 per cent to a month low, after its annual profit missed estimates, followed by a 6.7 per cent drop in shares of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank.

Tech stocks outperformed the market with a 1.7 per cent gain, led by Megaport rising 3.6 per cent.

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Australia: Shares end lower as miners, tech stocks weigh

Aerial imagery firm Nearmap surged more than 34 per cent, after getting a A$1.06 billion (S$1.03 billion) takeover bid from a US private equity firm.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index gained 0.6 per cent to 11,802.23.

Investors now await monetary policy meeting later this week, where the Reserve Bank of New Zealand is expected to deliver a fourth straight half-point rate hike to rein in stubbornly-high inflation. REUTERS