Mining and energy up as ASX shrugs off Wall Street slip
The Australian share market has edged higher, shrugging off a negative Wall Street session fuelled by a spat between two of the world's most powerful men.
By midday the S&P/ASX was up 9.6 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 8,548.5, as the broader All Ordinaries rose 5.6 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 8,774.2.
The steady start defied a Wall Street sell-off following US President Donald Trump's threat to axe government contracts with Elon Musk's companies, sending Tesla shares plummeting 14.3 per cent and weighing on the Nasdaq.
The warning came after Mr Musk lambasted the Trump Administration's key spending and tax cut bill as a "disgusting abomination", and in subsequent tweets accused Trump of being named in sealed government files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
"While the tabloid drama surrounding the end of 'Elonald' may capture public attention for some time yet, the broader market implications are likely to be fleeting - although Tesla, as a company, could be in further strife if certain subsidies and other support measures are entirely terminated," Capital.com market analyst Kyle Rodda said.
"The grown-ups in the markets will turn their attention to the non-farm payrolls release tonight as they look to assess the damage to the US economy from trade policy uncertainty."
More relevant to local markets was a potential resumption of US-China trade negotiations, after a phone call between the two countries' presidents.
Crude prices, energy stocks and iron ore miners have made gains as investors tempered their worst-case expectations for China's demand for commodities.
Energy stocks rose 0.6 per cent, leading six of 11 local sectors higher, tracking with a similar uptick in crude oil prices.
Brent crude futures are trading just above $US55 a barrel, helping Woodside lift 1.1 per cent.
The uptick in expectations also helped large-cap miners, with Fortescue up 1.2 per cent and BHP gaining 1.1 per cent after recent weakness.
The financial sector was relatively flat, grinding less than 0.1 per cent lower as profit-taking continued while the sector consolidates around record highs.
The Commonwealth Bank is down 0.6 per cent to $180.33 after tagging a new record high of $182 per share on Thursday.
IT stocks slipped 0.4 per cent, tracking with the overnight slide on the tech-heavy Nasdaq in the wake of the Tesla sell-off.
Gold is slightly lower as trade hopes pushed investors away from the safe haven, with futures slipping to $US3,385 ($A5,200) an ounce.
Meanwhile, cryptocurrency Bitcoin dropped sharply overnight by almost four per cent to find support at the $US101,000 level ($A155,241).
The chief cryptocurrency has dropped nine per cent in value after hitting an all-time peak of $US111,970 in May, but is up 20 per cent in 2025.
The Australian dollar is buying 65.03 US cents, up slightly from 64.96 US cents on Thursday at 5pm.
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