ASX 200 Edges Up to 9,024.5 as Miners Prop Up Market
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 made a steady start to the week as BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue rose, while nine of 11 sectors slipped. Investors stayed cautious after the US midterm elections and a rough week for AI stocks on Wall Street.
Mining stocks propped up the Australian sharemarket in early trade on Monday, as the S&P/ASX 200 rose 3.7 points to 9024.5 while investors stayed cautious after the US midterm elections.
Nine of the 11 industry sectors were in negative territory. The Australian dollar traded lower at US68.60¢ at 10.05am AEDT.
Miners lead, banks slip
BHP added 1.7 per cent, Fortescue rose 0.5 per cent and Rio Tinto gained 1.2 per cent. Gold miners also climbed, with Northern Star up 0.4 per cent and Evolution Mining 1.7 per cent higher.
Financial stocks fell. Westpac lost 0.8 per cent, while Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank each dropped 0.5 per cent.
ANZ shed 0.7 per cent despite reporting a 31 per cent jump in cash profit to $7.6 billion for the year to September. Last year's result was dragged down by charges from a cost-cutting drive. ANZ said that without those "significant items", cash profit rose 10 per cent.
Oil and tech
Oil prices dipped in early Asian trade. Brent crude fell 0.6 per cent to $US97.72, and WTI crude slipped 0.2 per cent to $US90.65.
Energy stocks were mixed. Woodside Energy edged up 0.1 per cent and Santos dipped 0.1 per cent, while refiners Ampol and Viva Energy lost 0.7 per cent and 0.9 per cent.
Technology stocks also split. WiseTech slid 0.3 per cent, Technology One fell 0.7 per cent, and NextDC and Megaport each shed 2.2 per cent. Xero was flat and Codan added 0.3 per cent.
Wall Street steadies
US stocks steadied on Friday after a worldwide tumble. AI-linked shares bounced back as Wall Street tried to work out what this week's sweeping Democratic wins in the midterms mean for the economy.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3 per cent but still lost 2.7 per cent for the week, its worst since President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs shook markets in April 2025. The Nasdaq composite climbed 1.1 per cent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 237 points, or 0.5 per cent.
Indexes had dropped 6 per cent in Tokyo and in Seoul after the US plunge on Thursday. Germany's DAX lost 1.9 per cent.
Nvidia gave the S&P 500 its biggest lift, rising 2.8 per cent after drops of 9.3 per cent and 3.2 per cent. AI data-centre stocks had tumbled on worries that Democratic gains in statehouses, particularly in Texas, could slow construction. Voters across parties say they are wary of AI and dislike higher power bills tied to data centres.
Political power in Washington remains split between a Democratic Congress and a Republican White House that holds the veto, which could limit federal efforts to rein in the AI industry.
Some AI companies still reported strong growth. IREN, which supplies data centres, computing and software for AI training, beat analyst expectations and jumped 20 per cent. Lam Research, a maker of semiconductor equipment, climbed 8.2 per cent.
