At noon, gold miners experienced a significant surge in value as traders revised their expectations for risk-free rates due to cooling US inflation and a decline in bond yields.
Northern Star (ASX:NST) saw a substantial increase of 4.4 percent. Newcrest (ASX:NCM)also witnessed a notable gain of 4 percent.
At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 1.26 per cent higher at 7,225.90.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 62 points.
Best and worst performers
All sectors are in the black. The best-performing sector is REITs, up 2.15 per cent. The sector with the fewest gains is Utilities, up 0.57 per cent.
The best-performing large cap is Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN), trading 7.04 per cent higher at $3.65. It is followed by shares in Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) and Newcrest Mining (ASX:NCM).
The worst-performing large cap is Mercury NZ (ASX:MCY), trading 2.98 per cent lower at $5.87. It is followed by shares in Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) and Medibank Private (ASX:MPL).
Asian markets
Asia-Pacific markets rose across the board Thursday after the U.S. inflation rate for June came in lower than expected at 3%, the smallest year-over-year increase in two years.
The figure was lower than the 3.1% expected by economists polled by Dow Jones.
Month over month, the inflation rate rose 0.2%, less than forecast. Core CPI — which strips out volatile food and energy prices — also rose less than expected.
In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index popped 2.15% at the open and led gains in the region, while the Hang Seng Tech index surged over 3%.
Mainland Chinese markets were also all up, with the Shanghai Composite gained 0.66% and the Shenzhen Component seeing a larger gain of 1.07%. Investors will be closely watching China’s June trade data, which is due later today.
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.95% and the Kosdaq saw a 1.54% gain as the Bank of Korea held its key policy rate unchanged at 3.5%, in line with expectations.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 climbed 1.24% in early trade and the Topix was 0.91% higher.
Company news
Alliance Aviation (ASX:AQZ) has upgraded profit guidance due to increased flying activity. Estimated full-year profit before tax is now expected to be $56.9m, surpassing previous guidance. The company also confirmed it has renewed its contract with Incitec Pivot for a further 5 years and has acquired 4 additional Embraer E190 airframes to address capacity shortfall in Q1 2024. On funding outlook, the Company announced it has secured a $100m debt facility from Pricoa for aircraft settlements and working capital. Shares are trading 13.8 per cent higher $3.22 at noon.
Vulcan Energy Resources (ASX:VUL) has announced that the Landau City Council has formally approved a decision to enter into contractual negotiations with Vulcan to acquire an area of land for the construction of its integrated geothermal renewable energy and lithium extraction plant. In addition to land negotiations, the State Mining Directorate has approved Vulcan's plan for new wells in its Insheim license. These developments are crucial for Phase One execution of the project. Vulcan’s Chief Development Officer, commented: “We are now working closely with the Landau city council. The relationship is strong, and we will continue to move forward as planned with consistent communication and transparency.”Shares are trading 2.78 per cent higher at $4.44 at noon.
Leading IT solutions provider Cirrus Networks Holdings (ASX:CNW) has announced a collaboration with NVIDIA to leverage the power of accelerated computing and artificial intelligence (AI) to drive innovation, improve efficiency, and promote sustainability across the Australian resources sector. Shares are trading 20 per cent higher at 4.8 cents at noon.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$1963.80 an ounce.
Iron ore is 2.7 per cent higher at US$110.55 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 2.02 per cent rise.
One Australian dollar is buying 67.98 US cents.
