ASX seesaws as mining rally offsets broader weakness

The Australian sharemarket has seesawed with a rally in the big miners offsetting losses in real estate, industrial, technology and retail stocks after a lacklustre lead from Wall Street.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dipped in the opening minutes but had risen 5.6 points, or just shy of 0.1 per cent, to 8770.1 as of 1.54pm AEST, as gains in resources softened losses from eight out of the 11 sectors.

That followed a 0.3 per cent decline for the S&P 500 as investors continued to take profits after US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell’s cautious stance on future interest rate cuts.

“Enthusiasm about further rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve has waned,” said Capital.com market analyst Kyle Rodda. “Some measured language from Fed officials this week … has sucked the momentum out of the equity market rally, which is well overdue for a little pullback.”

Copper jumps

On the ASX, index heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto both jumped more than 3 per cent, tracking a soaring copper price that hit a one-year high in London after Freeport-McMoRan said force majeure was declared on its Grasberg mine in Indonesia, the second-largest source of the metal. Pure play copper producer Sandfire Resources jumped 7.4 per cent, while Capstone Copper rocketed nearly 10 per cent.

The big banks were mixed, with Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank both edging down 0.6 per cent, while Westpac gained 0.6 per cent and ANZ was flat.

Elsewhere, investors took profits in gold stocks as the price of bullion declined after a US dollar gauge rose to the highest level since September 11. Ramelius slid 2.4 per cent, while Genesis and Northern Star both fell by 1.5 per cent.

The oil price steadied on Thursday following its biggest jump since July after US President Donald Trump’s increasingly hawkish rhetoric on Russia raised geopolitical risk. West Texas Intermediate traded above $US64 a barrel after gaining 2.5 per cent on Wednesday, while Brent settled above $US69. Oil and gas producer Woodside gained 2.5 per cent, while Santos edged up 1.2 per cent.

“Concerns over Russian supply have emerged again as a key support for Brent oil futures in recent days,” said Commonwealth Bank commodities strategist Vivek Dhar.

The rest of the ASX was broadly weaker after Wednesday’s hot inflation report dampened expectations for a rate cut in Australia for November. Rate-sensitive sectors from technology to consumer discretionary and property were all lower, with industrials down nearly 1 per cent.

Stocks in focus

In corporate news, Premier Investments rose 2.2 per cent despite reporting that profit from continuing operations – which includes Peter Alexander, Smiggle and a stake in Breville – fell 22.5 per cent to $144 million, as analysts described its results as a “slight earnings beat”.

Macquarie Group fell 1.2 per cent after agreeing to pay back $321 million to people who invested in Shield Master Trust via its superannuation wrap platform, in a settlement with the corporate watchdog.