ASX edges lower after Trump's Tehran warning; Gold, uranium stocks advance
Swinging between minor gains and losses, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 10.8 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 8537.20 as of 1.31pm AEST. It had added just 1 point on Monday. The Australian dollar was up 0.1 per cent at US65.31¢ at lunchtime.
US futures were down and oil climbed almost 2 per cent following Trump's comments in a social media post from the Group of Seven leaders' summit in Alberta, Canada. It wasn't clear what he was referring to but hours earlier, Trump had said Iran wanted to make a deal, sparking hopes the fighting could remain contained and pushing Wall Street higher in its session overnight.
Trump earlier said Iran wanted to talk about de-escalating the conflict with Israel even as the two sides exchanged fire for the fourth consecutive day. Asked if the US would get more involved militarily, the US leader said he didn't want to discuss it. However, he is cutting short his visit to the G7, according to the White House, and returning to Washington.
From the world stage back to the local sharemarket, miners, tech and energy stocks gained, holding up the ASX, while the big four banks and utilities were down.
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Gold miners rose as Trump's warning boosted demand for havens. Bullion rose as much as 0.4 per cent to top $US3400 an ounce, following a 1.4 per cent slide on Monday, which was the biggest daily decline in a month. Northern Star Resources shares rose 2.1 per cent, Evolution Mining gained 1 per cent and Newmont Corporation gained 2.7 per cent.
The iron ore heavyweights were mixed, with BHP down 0.5 per cent, while Fortescue and Rio Tinto up 0.1 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively.
A rally in uranium producers boosted the energy sector after Canadian asset manager Sprott said it would buy some $US200 million ($306 million) worth of the metal for its dedicated physical uranium trust. Paladin Energy climbed 6.2 per cent, Boss Energy gained 6.1 per cent and Deep Energy jumped 8.6 per cent.
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