ASX at open: Amazon saves the day, tech stocks bounce, miners underperform

The ASX is up 0.18% after Amazon shares rallied 14% in after-hours trade. 

Amazon released its earnings around 8 am AEDT, posting a big earnings beat helped by its investment in electric vehicle developer Rivian. 

Amazon said it will raise the price of its annual Prime membership from $119 to $139. The price change is expected to go into effect for new members in mid-February and for current members in late-March.

Most ASX sectors opened in positive territory, shrugging off the selloff across US stocks overnight.

11 ASX Sectors at 10:55 am AEDT

Tech rollercoaster continues

The S&P/ASX 200 Info Tech Index is up 1.1% after a -5.9% selloff on Thursday.

Amazon’s encouraging earnings has reverberated across local tech stocks. Notable winners include:

• Xero (ASX: XRO) 1.8%

• Block (ASX: SQ2) 1.1%

Miners underperform 

Iron ore giants BHP (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) are down -1.2% and -1.3% respectively. 

This is despite another positive overnight session for iron ore prices, up 3% to US$145.95 a tonne. 

Iron ore markets are expected to remain relatively stable in absence of Chinese market participants who are on the week-long Lunar New Year holiday. 

According to Fastmarkets, market participants believe that demand for iron ore is likely to be healthy when Chinese buyers return on Tuesday, 8 February. 

Earnings roundup 

• REA (ASX: REA) shares rallied 4.4% at open after reporting 31% net profit growth to $226m in the first-half FY22. The company experienced a wave of new listings after lockdown restrictions were lifted from November onwards.

• News Corporation (ASX: NWS) shares are up 4.1% after delivering 30% earnings growth for the first half FY22. Management said the business is thriving, particularly at the digital real estate services, Dow Jones and book publishing segments.