Miner Oz Minerals has rejected a takeover bid from mining giant BHP, and the Australian share market has failed in the first hour of trade.
Key points:
- The All Ordinaries Index was down 0.2pc to 7,234, while the ASX 200 index was also down 0.2pc to 6,999 at 10:20am AEST
- The S&P 500 fell 0.16pc to 4,145, the Dow Jones index rose 0.2pc to 32,804, and the Nasdaq fell 0.5pc to 4,145
- The Australian dollar was steady at 69.05 US cents at 10:20am AEST
In early trade, the All Ordinaries Index fell 0.2 per cent to 7,234, while the ASX 200 index also dropped 0.2 per cent to 6,999.
Most sectors were in the red on the ASX 200, with education stocks, real estate, consumer firms, technology and financials weighing on the market.
Industrials, miners and oil stocks led the gains.
Oz Minerals (+34.7 per cent) was the best performer in the ASX 200, followed by copper miner Sandfire Resources (+7.2 per cent).
Leading the losses were freight operator Aurizon (-4.7 per cent) and bank and insurer Suncorp (-3.4 per cent).
Aurizon said underlying profit for 2022 fell 2 per cent to $525 million for 2022.
Suncorp said its annual profit fell 34 per cent to $681 million because of natural-disaster claims.
Oz Minerals rejects BHP takeover
Copper and nickel miner Oz Minerals rebuffed an $8.3 billion takeover offer from BHP, which is pursuing metals which are crucial to the development of electric vehicles.
Oz Minerals said the $25-a-share unsolicited and conditional takeover bid was “highly opportunistic” and significantly undervalued the company.
Last week, BHP said it would increase spending on nickel exploration over the next two years to meet growing demand for the metal used in making electric vehicle batteries.
BHP has supply agreements with Tesla, Toyota, and Ford through its Nickel West unit.
Oz Mineral shares jumped nearly 35 per cent at 10:20am AEST to $25.49, while BHP shares rose 0.7 per cent to $39.07.
In other news, Beach Energy signed a sale and purchase agreement with BP Singapore.
US markets
Wall Street ended mixed on Friday after a strong US employment report which reignited fears about more interest rate rises by the Federal Reserve.
Official figures showed US employers hired more workers than expected in July, with the unemployment rate falling to 3.5 per cent.
The S&P 500 index fell 0.16 per cent to 4,145, the Dow Jones index rose 0.2 per cent to 32,804, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5 per cent to 4,145.
The Australian dollar was buying about 69.05 US cents at 10:20am AEST.
ABC/Reuters
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