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The Australian sharemarket has lifted at the open in line with modest gains on Wall Street.
The S&P/ASX200 rose 13.4 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 7439.8 about 10.15am, on the back of energy stocks, which advanced 0.9 per cent after oil rose nearly 2 per cent on Monday after the Iran-aligned Yemeni Houthi militant group attacked ships in the Red Sea.
Wall Street edged higher to start the week. Credit: Bloomberg
A Norwegian-owned vessel was attacked in the Red Sea on Monday and oil major BP said it had temporarily paused all transit through the water. Other shipping firms said over the weekend that they would avoid the route. About 15 per cent of world shipping traffic transits via the Suez Canal. London’s marine insurance market widened the area in the Red Sea it deemed high risk on Monday, adding to premiums ships pay.
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All large-cap energy stocks on the Australian index rose, including Woodside which gained 1.15 per cent. Meridian Energy was the best large-cap performer, its shares rising 3.33 per cent, followed by BlueScope Steel (up 1.56 per cent) and QBE Insurance (up 1.59 per cent).
The information technology sector pared back some early gains and climbed 0.28 per cent, led by gains in Xero (up 1.02 per cent). WiseTech rose 0.07 per cent, NEXTDC lifted 0.45 per cent and Altium was up 0.06 per cent.
Lithium explorer Azure Minerals entered a binding deed for Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM) and Hancock Prospecting to buy all its shares via a scheme of arrangement for a cash amount of $3.70 per share. Shares closed at $3.63 on Friday, before the trading halt.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia will release its latest board meeting minutes at 11.30am.
The S&P 500 rose 0.5 per cent on Wall Street and the Nasdaq composite picked up 0.6 per cent, while the Dow Jones finished essentially flat after most of a 0.2 per cent gain faded by late afternoon.
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