Australian shares are largely unchanged near midday, as gains in energy stocks fail to offset a moderate decline across much of the index.
The S&P/ASX 200 is 2 points, or less than 0.1 per cent, lower at 7772 near 11am AEST.
Early in trade, energy stocks are the best performing, up 1 per cent, following gains in oil and LNG overnight. Woodside and Santos are both up around 1 per cent.
Nuclear stocks are rising after federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton pledged seven nuclear power plants by 2050 as part of his election push. Paladin Energy is 1 per cent higher at $13.69 and Deep Yellow is up 1.9 per cent at $1.45.
In a quiet session, none of the other 10 ASX sectors have moved more than 0.5 per cent in either direction.
Overnight, the S&P 500 rose 0.3 per cent to 5487.03 – yet another record closing high – buoyed in part by Nvidia, which surged higher to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company. The stock gained 3.5 per cent, lifting its market cap to $US3.4 trillion.
While Nvidia rallied, the rest of the magnificent seven were lower. Microsoft and Apple closed lower. Microsoft’s market cap slipped to $US3.32 trillion, while Apple’s slid to $US3.29 trillion.
Outside of tech, stocks were little changed after US retail sales rose 0.1 per cent in May, versus the 0.3 per cent increase expected by economists polled by Reuters, while a separate report showed May industrial production and manufacturing output both beat expectations.
Stocks in focus
Shares in Helia Group are the worst performing, down 15.2 per cent to $3.56 after Commonwealth Bank of Australia flagged potential changes to the companies’ existing lenders mortgage insurance contract. The existing contract accounted for more than half of Helia’s gross written premium in 2023.
Downer EDI has been awarded a new contract by NBN, valued at more than $100 million. Shares added 0.6 per cent to $4.71.
Kerry Stokes-backed Beach Energy has been slapped with broker downgrades overnight, sending shares 3.6 per cent lower to $1.48. Yesterday, Beach Energy fell 2.2 per cent to $1.53 after the company said it would slash spending, operating costs and jobs and raise the bar on returns for projects in a bid to improve the company’s performance.
Insurance group QBE will close its North American middle-market business, saying the segment has “experienced performance challenges over several years”. Shares slipped 2.2 per cent to $17.97.
Pharmaceutical developer Botanix has paused trading of its shares, pending the outcome of the US Food and Drug Administration’s review of the company’s Sofdra product.