ASX slips further as miners weaken; Government buys Rex debt

Information technology was the biggest lifter for the second day running, but early gains bolstered by WiseTech Global reversed by midday, falling to 0.2 per cent. Similarly, TechnologyOne (down 0.8 per cent) also slipped, while accounting software company Xero rose to 1.4 per cent.
Myer shares continued to rise from the morning, at 2.2 per cent, as shareholders voted to merge with Premier Investments’ portfolio of fashion brands comprising Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Portmans, Dotti and Jacqui E. According to ASX filings, 95.5 per cent of shareholders cast votes in favour of the deal. Premier shares slipped from 0.4 per cent at the open to drop to 1.6 per cent at midday.
All four big banks continued to trade in the red, as CBA recorded drops of 0.5 per cent, while Westpac (down 0.5 per cent), ANZ (down 0.4 per cent), and NAB (down 0.5 per cent) similarly lagged.
In the US, Netflix, Oracle and other big technology stocks lifted Wall Street as their profits pile higher and excitement builds around the moneymaking prospects of artificial intelligence.
The S&P 500 rose 0.6 per cent and came close to its all-time closing high set early last month. The Dow Jones added 130 points, or 0.3 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.3 per cent.
The gains came even though most US stocks fell under the weight of another crank higher for Treasury yields in the bond market. The smaller stocks in the Russell 2000 index lost 0.6 per cent, for example, and roughly two out of every three stocks in the S&P 500 sank. Gains for big, influential stocks were more than enough to make up for it.
Netflix helped lead the way after it said live events like football games and a Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight helped it add nearly 19 million subscribers during the latest quarter. It also reported stronger profit than analysts expected and said it’s raising subscription prices in the United States and other countries. Netflix jumped 9.7 per cent.
Wall Street continued to march higher. Credit: AP
The streaming giant joined a lengthening list of companies that have topped analysts’ profit expectations for the end of 2024. Such results support their stock prices and counteract the downward push they’ve felt from rising Treasury yields, which can peel investors away from stocks.
The rise in yields, caused in part by worries about stubborn inflation and the US government’s swelling debt, had knocked down stocks and halted the record-breaking run that had carried them through 2024, at least briefly.
Some of the market’s most forceful pushes upward came from AI-related companies. Oracle added 6.8 per cent following its 7.2 per cent rise the day before, ahead of the expected announcement that came late Tuesday about Stargate, a joint venture the White House said will start building out data centres and the electricity generation needed for the further development of AI in Texas.
The partnership formed by Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank will invest up to $US500 billion ($797.4 billion). SoftBank Group’s stock in Tokyo rose 10.6 per cent.
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Other AI-related stocks also climbed, furthering their already fantastic run. Nvidia, the company whose chips are powering much of the move into AI, rose 4.4 per cent. Its stock is above $US147 after sitting below $US18 just two years ago.
In the cryptocurrency market, where prices have surged on hopes President Donald Trump will make Washington friendlier to the industry, bitcoin was sitting just above $US104,000. It had set a record above $US109,000 on Monday.
Some sourness is lingering after Trump and his wife launched meme coins, which critics said looked like an unseemly cash grab.
With AP
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