ASX treads water on Friday as Rio Tinto slides, banks advance
The big four banks are in positive territory. National Australia Bank added 0.9 per cent; Commonwealth Bank, the biggest company on the ASX, added 0.7 per cent; ANZ Bank rose 0.8 per cent; and Westpac closed flat.
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Energy stocks are mixed. Woodside was down 0.6 per cent and Santos added 0.5 per cent.
Power and gas supplier Origin Energy slipped 1.1 per cent on expectations of a $55 million half-year earnings hit after agreeing to cut the price of giant liquefied natural gas cargoes it ships from Queensland to China's Sinopec.
Sinopec, which holds a 25 per cent stake in the Origin Energy-backed Australia Pacific LNG joint venture on Queensland's Curtis Island and is also its major customer, had asked for a review of its long-term LNG purchase agreement to reflect sliding international oil and gas prices.
The global gas market is facing the prospect of an oversupply in the second half of this decade as a wave of new production projects come online.
Myer closed 5.4 per cent up after issuing a trading update that showed sales had declined across the recently acquired Apparel Brands, but it had overall a modest uptick in sales across its department store business.
Myer's total sales lifted 1.9 per cent to $837.2 million for the second half of fiscal 2025 to date (16 weeks). Total sales at Apparel Brands, which includes Jay Jays, Dotti, Portmans, Just Jeans and Jacqui E, fell 3.9 per cent to $211.2 million.
Chief executive Olivia Wirth blamed higher discounts across the retail sector, higher costs of doing business and the cost of fixing a robot warehouse bungle as factors behind the financial performance. The group will host its investor strategy day next Wednesday.
The ASX lost 0.5 per cent on Thursday. The Australian dollar regained losses from overnight to be 0.3 per cent higher at US64.31¢ at 12.40pm AEST.
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Wall Street trading remained choppy throughout most of the day following Wednesday's big slump for the S&P 500. That loss has put the benchmark index on track for its worst week in the past seven.
The S&P 500 slipped 2.60 points, or less than 0.1 per cent, to close at 5842.01. The Dow Jones fell 1.35 points, or less than 0.1 per cent, to 41,859.09. The Nasdaq composite rose 53.09 points, or 0.3 per cent to 18,925.73.
Technology stocks did most of the heavy lifting for Wall Street. The majority of stocks within the S&P 500 lost ground, but gains for technology companies with outsized values offset those losses. Google's parent Alphabet jumped 1.4 per cent and Nvidia rose 0.8 per cent.
The choppy trading this week and the sharp decline for stocks on Wednesday follow several weeks of mostly gains that had brought the S&P 500 back within 5 per cent of its all-time high.
'We've had a good bounce here, but the market is looking for some excuse to take some money off the table,' said Wells Fargo Investment Institute senior global market strategist Scott Wren.
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Content originally sourced from: What may be the Australian-spec 2026 JAC T9 PHEV dual-cab ute has made its public debut at the 2025 Greater Bay Area motor show in Shenzen, China as one of six new JAC vehicles planned for local showrooms. The JAC Hunter PHEV shown in these images from Car News China will be badged T9 in Australia, joining the current diesel-powered ute on sale here since January 2025. It will give JAC a direct competitor to the BYD Shark 6, GWM Cannon Alpha and Ford Ranger PHEV dual-cab utes when it launches here in early 2026. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. The T9/Hunter PHEV was already revealed earlier this year, though the vehicle showed off at the Melbourne motor show had quite a different look with all-terrain tyres, black wheels and a black sports bar. This Australian Edition revealed in China, in contrast, features 18-inch 'aerodynamic' alloy wheels running all-season tyres, like the battery-electric version of the T9. There's also blue badging, while the front tow hooks appear to have been removed and the sports bar appears to have a chrome finish. It's unclear whether local-spec T9 PHEVs will look more like the Chinese show car or the Melbourne show car, or if we'll get the option of both looks. The T9 PHEV is powered by a 160kW 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with a 130kW front axle and 150kW rear axle motor providing all-wheel drive. Combined output is a 385kW and a hefty 1000Nm with a 715kg payload – against the diesel T9's 1045kg – and braked towing rating of 3500kg to outmuscle the diesel versions' 3200kg rating. The 31.2kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery provides a claimed 100km of electric driving – more than the Ford Ranger PHEV's 49km and identical to the BYD Shark 6's range. The ute also has vehicle-to-load (V2L) charging capability so it can power electrical appliances. The interior sees a new four-spoke steering wheel design in place of the two-spoke wheel seen diesel versions in local showrooms, with a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster and 10.4-inch centre screen. A long-wheelbase version sold overseas increases the standard 5330mm length by 290mm but won't be offered here. Pricing and full specs have yet to be announced for the T9 PHEV, with this information likely to be announced closer to its early 2026 launch. The T9 EV also shown in Melbourne in April has not yet been locked in for an Australian on-sale. The T9 PHEV will be joined in Australian showrooms, however, by a raft of new JAC models, including a ladder-frame SUV due by the end of 2026 to take on the Ranger-based Ford Everest as well as the Toyota Prado. Content originally sourced from: What may be the Australian-spec 2026 JAC T9 PHEV dual-cab ute has made its public debut at the 2025 Greater Bay Area motor show in Shenzen, China as one of six new JAC vehicles planned for local showrooms. The JAC Hunter PHEV shown in these images from Car News China will be badged T9 in Australia, joining the current diesel-powered ute on sale here since January 2025. It will give JAC a direct competitor to the BYD Shark 6, GWM Cannon Alpha and Ford Ranger PHEV dual-cab utes when it launches here in early 2026. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. The T9/Hunter PHEV was already revealed earlier this year, though the vehicle showed off at the Melbourne motor show had quite a different look with all-terrain tyres, black wheels and a black sports bar. This Australian Edition revealed in China, in contrast, features 18-inch 'aerodynamic' alloy wheels running all-season tyres, like the battery-electric version of the T9. There's also blue badging, while the front tow hooks appear to have been removed and the sports bar appears to have a chrome finish. It's unclear whether local-spec T9 PHEVs will look more like the Chinese show car or the Melbourne show car, or if we'll get the option of both looks. The T9 PHEV is powered by a 160kW 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with a 130kW front axle and 150kW rear axle motor providing all-wheel drive. Combined output is a 385kW and a hefty 1000Nm with a 715kg payload – against the diesel T9's 1045kg – and braked towing rating of 3500kg to outmuscle the diesel versions' 3200kg rating. The 31.2kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery provides a claimed 100km of electric driving – more than the Ford Ranger PHEV's 49km and identical to the BYD Shark 6's range. The ute also has vehicle-to-load (V2L) charging capability so it can power electrical appliances. The interior sees a new four-spoke steering wheel design in place of the two-spoke wheel seen diesel versions in local showrooms, with a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster and 10.4-inch centre screen. A long-wheelbase version sold overseas increases the standard 5330mm length by 290mm but won't be offered here. Pricing and full specs have yet to be announced for the T9 PHEV, with this information likely to be announced closer to its early 2026 launch. The T9 EV also shown in Melbourne in April has not yet been locked in for an Australian on-sale. The T9 PHEV will be joined in Australian showrooms, however, by a raft of new JAC models, including a ladder-frame SUV due by the end of 2026 to take on the Ranger-based Ford Everest as well as the Toyota Prado. Content originally sourced from: What may be the Australian-spec 2026 JAC T9 PHEV dual-cab ute has made its public debut at the 2025 Greater Bay Area motor show in Shenzen, China as one of six new JAC vehicles planned for local showrooms. The JAC Hunter PHEV shown in these images from Car News China will be badged T9 in Australia, joining the current diesel-powered ute on sale here since January 2025. It will give JAC a direct competitor to the BYD Shark 6, GWM Cannon Alpha and Ford Ranger PHEV dual-cab utes when it launches here in early 2026. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. The T9/Hunter PHEV was already revealed earlier this year, though the vehicle showed off at the Melbourne motor show had quite a different look with all-terrain tyres, black wheels and a black sports bar. This Australian Edition revealed in China, in contrast, features 18-inch 'aerodynamic' alloy wheels running all-season tyres, like the battery-electric version of the T9. There's also blue badging, while the front tow hooks appear to have been removed and the sports bar appears to have a chrome finish. It's unclear whether local-spec T9 PHEVs will look more like the Chinese show car or the Melbourne show car, or if we'll get the option of both looks. The T9 PHEV is powered by a 160kW 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with a 130kW front axle and 150kW rear axle motor providing all-wheel drive. Combined output is a 385kW and a hefty 1000Nm with a 715kg payload – against the diesel T9's 1045kg – and braked towing rating of 3500kg to outmuscle the diesel versions' 3200kg rating. The 31.2kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery provides a claimed 100km of electric driving – more than the Ford Ranger PHEV's 49km and identical to the BYD Shark 6's range. The ute also has vehicle-to-load (V2L) charging capability so it can power electrical appliances. The interior sees a new four-spoke steering wheel design in place of the two-spoke wheel seen diesel versions in local showrooms, with a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster and 10.4-inch centre screen. A long-wheelbase version sold overseas increases the standard 5330mm length by 290mm but won't be offered here. Pricing and full specs have yet to be announced for the T9 PHEV, with this information likely to be announced closer to its early 2026 launch. The T9 EV also shown in Melbourne in April has not yet been locked in for an Australian on-sale. The T9 PHEV will be joined in Australian showrooms, however, by a raft of new JAC models, including a ladder-frame SUV due by the end of 2026 to take on the Ranger-based Ford Everest as well as the Toyota Prado. Content originally sourced from:
