Energy, mining leads Australian stocks lower at midday

The local share market has moved lower this morning, dragged in part by losses from the energy and materials sectors.

At noon AEST on Monday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 35.3 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 7,787.0, while the broader All Ordinaries had dropped 34.6 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 8,035.5.

The losses came as France headed for a hung parliament and potentially an electoral stalemate with a coalition of left-wing parties surprisingly winning a majority of seats in the weekend election.

While they did not gain an outright majority, the high-spending rhetoric of the coalition sent a nervous shiver down the spine of European businesses watching on with interest.

In the United States, monthly jobs figures released late Friday reinforced expectations that the Fed would cut interest rates in September.

In a revision, the non-farm payrolls report lowered the job growth figures for April and May, while the unemployment rate ticked higher in June.

At midday, nine of the ASX’s 11 sectors were lower, with consumer discretionaries and tech higher.

Energy was the biggest loser, down 1.6 per cent as Brent crude dipped to a five-day low of $US86.29 a barrel.

Woodside was down 1.7 per cent, Santos had fallen 1.5 per cent, and uranium company Deep Yellow had dropped 3.6 per cent.

The heavyweight mining sector was 1.3 per cent lower as losses for the iron ore giants outweighed gains by the goldminers.

BHP had fallen 1.6 per cent, Rio Tinto had dropped 1.5 per cent and Fortescue was 2.4 per cent lower, while Evolution had grown 2.6 per cent, Newmont had added 1.3 per cent and Red 5 had added 9.3 per cent following a quarterly update.

Rex Minerals had soared 61.8 per cent to 44.5c after the South Australia-based company agreed to be taken over by its largest shareholder, privately owned mining group MACH Metals, for 47c a share.

The deal values Rex at $393 million and will allow MACH to develop Rex’s Hillside project, a “shovel-ready” planned copper-gold mine on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula.

Core Lithium had grown 15.4 per cent to 10.5c after the lithium developer said it ended 2023/24 with $87.2 million in cash after suspending operations at its Finniss mine in the NT earlier in the year.

In the financial sector, the big four banks were mixed, with ANZ up 0.9 per cent and Westpac up 0.4 per cent, while NAB was flat and CBA had dipped 0.4 per cent.

The Australian dollar was at a fresh six-month high against its US counterpart, buying 67.50 US cents, from 67.32 US cents at Friday’s ASX close.