Australian shares hit record high as lithium miners soar
The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.2% at 8,827.70, as of 0114 GMT, after hitting an all-time high of 8,852.30 earlier in the session.
Investors were waiting for the Reserve Bank of Australia's monetary policy decision on Tuesday. Markets have priced in a quarter-point interest rate cut, according to a Reuters poll.
Miners climbed 1.5% on Monday in what would be their sixth straight session of gains, with BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue rising between 1.3% and 1.7%.
Lithium miners led the rally after a report that Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) had suspended production at its lithium mine Jianxiawo in China's Jiangxi province.
The mine has been a major contributor to rapidly growing supplies of lithium in China, the world's top processor of the battery material.
Liontown Resources was the top gainer among lithium stocks, rising nearly 25%. Pilbara Minerals, IGO, Core Lithium and Mineral Resources advanced between 10.5% and 17.4%.
Financials rose 0.3% as market participants geared up for the earnings reports of banks. Top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia is scheduled to announce its full-year results on Wednesday.
All the 'big four' banks were up between 0.5% and 1.1% on Monday.
Energy stocks inched 0.3% higher after oil prices steadied on Friday.
Energy giants Woodside and Santos climbed about 0.4% each.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.6%.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
3 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Oil steadies ahead of US-Russia talks
HOUSTON: Oil prices steadied on Monday, after falling more than 4% last week, as investors looked towards talks this week between the U.S. and Russia over the war in Ukraine. Brent crude futures slipped 14 cents, or 0.21%, at $66.45 a barrel by 11:15 a.m. EDT (1515 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 12 cents, or 0.19%, to $63.76. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15 in Alaska to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. 'The market is taking out a lot of the Russia war premium because of the expected Trump-Putin meeting, and the market is then also taking out the possibility of the reciprocal tariffs on Russian oil,' said Phil Flynn, a senior analyst with Price Futures Group. The talks follow increased U.S. pressure on Russia, raising the prospect of tighter penalties on Moscow if a peace deal is not reached. Trump set a deadline of last Friday for Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, to agree to peace or have its oil buyers face secondary sanctions. At the same time, Washington is pressing India to reduce purchases of Russian oil. Oil prices have fallen in recent days as market participants lowered supply disruption estimates, probably because the U.S. imposed an extra tariff only on India rather than all buyers of Russian oil, said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. UBS has lowered its year-end Brent crude forecast to $62 a barrel from $68, citing higher supply from South America and resilient output from sanctioned countries. Indian demand had fallen short of its expectations of late, the bank said, and it expected OPEC+ to pause its production increases unless larger unexpected supply disruptions emerge. OPEC's oil output rose further in July after an OPEC+ agreement to raise production, a Reuters survey found on Friday, although the hike was limited by Iraq making additional cuts and by drone attacks on Kurdish oilfields. 'The balance right now is between OPEC not raising production as much as anticipated versus the possibility that there will be a Ukraine ceasefire deal, and Russian oil might start to flow freely, that balance has oil bouncing around like a yo-yo right now,' Price Futures' Flynn added. Elsewhere, an Exxon Mobil-led consortium began crude production four months earlier than expected at a fourth floating production, storage and offloading vessel in Guyana, Exxon said on Friday. Separately, data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Saturday showed China's producer prices fell more than expected in July.
Express Tribune
4 hours ago
- Express Tribune
US to collect share of Nvidia, AMD AI chip earnings from China
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday and agreed to give the federal government the cut from its revenues. PHOTO: FILE Listen to article US semiconductor giants Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices have agreed to pay the United States government 15 percent of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China, according to media reports Sunday. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday and agreed to give the federal government the cut from its revenues, a highly unusual arrangement in the international tech trade, according to reports in the Financial Times, Bloomberg and New York Times. According to the Financial Times, the artificial intelligence chips that are part of the agreement with the US government are Nvidia's "H20" and the "MI308" from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Nvidia did not deny the reported deal when approached for comment. "We follow rules the US government sets for our participation in worldwide markets," a spokesperson told AFP. Read More: Nvidia H20 chips 'unsafe for China', says Chinese state media "While we haven't shipped H20 to China for months, we hope export control rules will let America compete in China and worldwide." The company spokesperson added: "America cannot repeat 5G and lose telecommunication leadership. America's AI tech stack can be the world's standard if we race." AMD did not immediately respond to inquiries for comment. Investors are betting that AI will transform the global economy, and Nvidia -- the world's leading semiconductor producer -- last month became the first company ever to hit $4 trillion in market value. The California-based firm has, however, become entangled in trade tensions between China and the United States, which are waging a heated battle for dominance to produce the chips that power AI. The US has been restricting which chips Nvidia can export to China on national security grounds. Nvidia said last month that Washington had pledged to let the company sell its H20 chips to China, which are a less powerful version that the tech giant specifically developed for the Chinese market. The Trump administration had not issued licenses to allow Nvidia to sell the chips before the reported White House meeting. On Friday, however, the Commerce Department started granting the licenses for chip sales, the reports said. Also Read: US licenses Nvidia to export chips to China Silicon Valley-based AMD will also pay 15 percent of revenue on Chinese sales of its MI308 chips, which it was previously barred from exporting to the country. The deal could earn the US government more than $2 billion, according to the New York Times report. The move comes as the Trump administration has been imposing stiff tariffs, with goals varying from addressing US trade imbalances, wanting to reshore manufacturing, and pressuring foreign governments to change policies. A 100 percent tariff on many semiconductor imports came into effect last week, with exceptions for tech companies that announce major investments in the United States. "It's a political tariff in everything but name, brokered in the shadow of heightened US-China tech tensions," Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said.
Business Recorder
4 hours ago
- Business Recorder
US stocks mixed ahead of inflation data, China tariff deadline
NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks opened mixed Monday, ahead of a key US inflation report and as the clock ticked down to a deadline for higher tit-for-tat tariffs to return between Washington and Beijing. Minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2 percent to 44,252.25, while the S&P 500 Index was flat at 6,388.35. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.2 percent to 21,403.12. The movements came after weak US employment figures for the recent three months were seen as giving the Federal Reserve a 'green light' to cut interest rates and boost the world's biggest economy, said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management. Wall Street Week Ahead: Inflation data to test stocks as some investors brace for rally to pause The Fed has, this year, kept rates unchanged as officials monitored for the effects of President Donald Trump's wide-ranging tariffs on the economy. The US central bank has a mandate to achieve stable prices, meaning policymakers pay close attention to inflation data as well, in addition to its mandate towards maximum employment. But Hogan believes the consumer price index report due Tuesday 'would have to have an outsized move' upwards to deter the Fed from cutting rates in September, given the cracks now seen in the labor market. A temporary agreement between Washington and Beijing to lower tariffs was also due to expire on Tuesday. Investors will also be looking ahead to talks between Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday. The two leaders will meet in the US state of Alaska to try to resolve a three-year war following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, but Kyiv is concerned that both could strike a deal requiring Ukraine to cede territory to Russia. The invasion of Ukraine has 'been an ongoing global headwind that has really restructured trade routes,' Hogan told AFP.
