In the US, the S&P 500 reached near-record highs overnight, fuelled by the mass of corporate earnings and an AI-driven tech rally. However, the ASX did not witness the same momentum at open on Thursday (23 January).
The S&P/ASX 200 retreated 32.9 points, or 0.39%, to 8,396.90 points as of 10.30 AEDT.
Over the last five days, the index has gained 0.84% and is currently 1.38% below its 52-week high.
Ten of the 11 sectors slipped into the red at market open. Materials dropped 0.59%, utilities and energy both opened down 0.23% and industrials dipped 0.11%.
Commodities continued under pressure as base metals and iron ore retreated further.
Investors are favouring safehaven assets over the uncertainty surrounding US President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs. This buoyed gold, which was fetching around US$2,756 an ounce.
ANZ Head of Australian Economics says the precious metal hit a three-month high in intra-day (US time) trading as its appeal as a haven asset grew.
“This is despite a stronger USD, which tends to dent investor appetite,” he says.
Fortescue (ASX:FMG) released its December 2024 quarter results today, which showed iron ore shipments of 49.4 million tonnes for the second quarter of the 2025 financial year. This marks the highest half-year shipments of 97.1 million tonnes in the company’s history.
The miner managed to reduce its hematite C1 cost by 10% to US$18.24 per wet metric tonne compared to the prior quarter. However, it was 4% higher compared to the second quarter of the 2024 financial year.
Fortescue edged back 0.58% to $18.92.
Coronado Global Resources (ASX:CRN) was the top mover on the S&P/ASX 200 with a 4.93% advance to $0.745. The coal producer also released its December 2024 quarter results which showed an 8.8% quarter-over-quarter climb in group run of mine production to 6.9 million tonnes and a 4.7% rise in sales volumes to 4.1 million tonnes.
Gold producer Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN), mineral sands miner Iluka Resources (ASX:ILU) and lithium producer Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) all lost ground after the opening bell.
Evolution fell 3.91% to $5.66, Iluka slipped 3.64% to $4.77 and Liontown decreased 2.84% to $0.69.
The S&P/ASX200 is Australia’s leading share market index and contains the top 200 ASX-listed companies in terms of market capitalisation, and accounts for about 80% of the country’s equity market. The index is designed to measure the performance of the 200 largest index-eligible stocks listed on the ASX by float-adjusted market capitalisation.
It is recognised as the institutional investable benchmark in the country.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: ASX & iStock
