AU Morning Wrap: ASX Opens Higher; Budget Boost Puts Miners in Spotlight

$Nasdaq Composite Index(.IXIC.US)$ reached a record closing high Tuesday, pushed up by a second day of meme stock volatility climbing about 0.75% to 16,511.18.Just past the close, the $S&P 500 Index(.SPX.US)$ traded up 0.48%, the $Dow Jones Industrial Average(.DJI.US)$ fell about 0.32%. Overall, 8700 equities climbed compared to 4300 in the decline Tuesday. The S&P 500 is within 1% of its own record high.

The $U.S. 2-Year Treasury Notes Yield(US2Y.BD)$ was 4.82%, and the $U.S. 10-Year Treasury Notes Yield(US10Y.BD)$ was 4.46%.

Australian shares opened higher after the budget announcement, led by a rally in the mining sector. The $S&P/ASX 200(.XJO.AU)$ rose by 0.6% to 7,771.7 in the first 10 minutes of trading, with all sectors except utilities rallying.

The mining sector was buoyed by a 2.9% rally in index heavyweight $BHP Group Ltd(BHP.AU)$ after Anglo American unveiled a divestment plan to focus on its potash, copper, and iron ore assets. However, the London-listed mining giant fell 3.2% after rejecting a second takeover offer from BHP.

The sector also received a boost from the budget announcement after the federal government outlined $17.6 billion in tax credit support for the critical minerals sector, as well as a $6.7 billion tax incentive for hydrogen. Shares of $Fortescue Ltd(FMG.AU)$ rose by 2.3%, and $Rio Tinto Ltd(RIO.AU)$ gained 1.2%.

The $AUD/USD(AUDUSD.FX)$ is trading at US66.23¢, a decrease of 0.06%.

As of latest data, $Bitcoin(BTC.CC)$ is priced at $61,609, down 1.99% in the past 24 hours, while $Ethereum(ETH.CC)$ is priced at $2,887, down 2.01% in the past 24 hours.

$CSR Ltd(CSR.AU)$ has reported solid full year results in its core building products business, but its aluminium unit suffered a loss of $29 million due to high energy costs. The company's net profit after tax rose by 6% to $231 million, with revenues remaining flat at $2.63 billion. However, CSR did not pay a final dividend due to its takeover by France's Saint-Gobain.

$Australian Agricultural Co Ltd(AAC.AU)$ swung to a net loss of $94.6 million for the full year due to a challenging 12 months and softening cattle prices.