Big four banks send ASX lower; BlueScope Steel shares rally
The Australian share market fell in midday trading, led by banks and consumer staples, erasing market gains for mining giants. BlueScope Steel shares rose after the nation’s largest steelmaker confirmed it had received a $13 billion takeover offer.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was down 30.5 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 8697.60 at 13:05 AEDT; It ignored a 0.4 per cent jump in ASX futures that signaled gains for the local bourse. Seven of the market’s 11 industrial sectors were in the red. The decline follows a sluggish session on Monday in which the S&P/ASX 200 index was flat. The Australian dollar traded at 67.14¢.
BlueScope’s steel mill at Port Kembla, NSW. The company confirmed that it had received a $13 billion acquisition offer.Credit: Louise Kennerley
BlueScope shares rose 21.9 per cent to $29.80, approaching the $30 price offered by billionaire Kerry Stokes’ industrial and media group SGH Ltd and US steelmaker Steel Dynamics in a joint takeover bid for the company. The steelmaker’s board of directors said it was considering the “highly conditional” offer, which would require approval from the board and shareholders. SGH shares rose 5.3 percent.
BHP, the country’s biggest miner, gained 1.3 per cent, while rival Rio Tinto rose 1.1 per cent as copper continued its scorching rise, surpassing US$13,000 a tonne for the first time, as a new push to ship the metal to the US spurred bullish traders and investors. Benchmark prices on the London Metal Exchange rose as much as 4.7 percent overnight; This was the latest in a series of rallies that have seen copper rise nearly 20 percent since mid-November.
BHP subsidiary South 32, which owns Australia’s largest silver mine, rose 1.8 per cent as gold and silver prices rose overnight as investors weighed rising geopolitical risks following the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
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Spot gold rose as much as 2.9 percent to over $4,455 per ounce, while silver gained 6 percent. But local gold miners largely shrugged off the move, with Northern Star shares gaining just 0.2 percent, volution Mining losing 0.7 percent and Newmont losing 0.4 percent.
Energy stocks were mixed even as U.S. oil majors Chevron and Exxon Mobil rallied on President Donald Trump’s plan for U.S. oil companies to help rebuild Venezuela’s oil industry. Australia’s largest oil company, Woodside, gained 0.3 percent in value, while Santos gained 0.3 percent.
Financial stocks were the biggest weight in the local market as investors shifted funds away from banks and into the mining sector amid concerns of weak profit growth for banks. While all the Big Four banks collapsed, Australia’s largest stock, the Commonwealth Bank, lost 2.2 per cent. Westpac and National Australia Bank lost 2.1 percent and 2 percent respectively, while ANZ Bank also lost 2 percent.
