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ASX up 0.17% at noon as oil prices surge

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2023-11-20

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Global energy stocks, particularly in the ASX, have surged, with the energy sector being the top performer among the ASX's 11 sectors, boosted by rising oil prices, including gains in US energy giants like ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips. Woodside and Santos, major players in the oil and gas industry, are also contributing to the sector's growth. Brent crude oil, which briefly surpassed $80 per barrel, has stabilised, and JPMorgan strategists anticipate an extension of existing output cuts at the November 26 OPEC meeting.

At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.17 per cent higher at 7,061.70.

The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 15 points.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector is Energy, up 1.2 per cent. The worst-performing sector is REITs, down 0.35 per cent.

The best-performing large cap is Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC), trading 2.23 per cent higher at $6.89. It is followed by shares in Allkem (ASX:AKE) and ALS (ASX:ALQ).

The worst-performing large cap is Mercury NZ (ASX:MCY), trading 4.84 per cent lower at $5.50. It is followed by shares in Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) and Atlas Arteria (ASX:ALX).

Asian news

Asia-Pacific markets started the week higher after most major bourses ended lower in the previous session, while investors watched for changes to China’s benchmark lending rates.

The People’s Bank of China’s one-year loan prime rate — the peg for most household and corporate loans in China — is currently at 3.45%. The five-year benchmark loan rate — the peg for most mortgages — stands at 4.2%.

Hong Kong stocks led declines in Asia-Pacific on Friday, as shares of Alibaba plunged after the Chinese e-commerce giant said it would not proceed with the full spinoff of its cloud group.

Company news

AML3D (ASX:AL3) announce an order for a large custom built ARCEMY® metal 3D printing system to be installed at Austal’s USA Advanced Technologies facility in Charlottesville, Virginia. The order, valued at approximately AUD$2.2M, is the second received from AML3D’s value added reseller Philips Corporation since the inception of the reseller arrangement in April 2023. Shares are trading 16.46 per cent higher at 9.2 cents.

Artrya (ASX:AYA) has entered the US market with a five-year strategic commercial partnership agreement with Northeast Georgia Health Ventures. In response, Artrya CEO Mathew Regan said, “This agreement validates our strategy for entering the US market in heart disease prevention and care currently costing the US system approximately $320 billion per year.” Shares are trading 2.38 per cent higher at 21.5 cents.

ABx Group (ASX:ABX) has completed the first comprehensive block model resource estimation of the Deep Leads-Rubble Mound rare earth resources. The resource estimate exceeds 50 million tonnes at approximately the same grade as previous smaller-scale resource estimates. Shares are trading 7.14 per cent higher at 7.5 cents.
 
Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1978.80 an ounce.

Iron ore is 2.0 per cent lower at US$129.75 a tonne.

Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.4 per cent fall.

One Australian dollar is buying 65.10 US cents.

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