ASX at open: Tech and energy stocks higher, ANZ drags

The ASX is down -0.4% after a misleading session on Wall Street, which was buoyed by an upbeat earnings result from Amazon.

11 ASX Sectors at 10:45 am AEDT

Tech rally continues

Local tech stocks were set up for success after US-listed rivals Affirm and Block rallied 9.2% and 7.3% last Friday. Notable large cap winners include: 

• Block (ASX: SQ2) 3.2%

• WiseTech (ASX: WTC) 3.5%

• Xero (ASX: XRO) 1.2%

Oil prices eye US$100 

Oil prices closed comfortably above US$90 a barrel last week, closing in on the highly anticipated triple-figures. 

“A winter storm in Texas appears to have been responsible for the latest spike in crude prices, as traders fret about the possibility of outages in the Permian Basin,” said Oanda senior market analyst, Craig Erlam. 

“In such a tight market, that’s more than enough to encourage traders to buy what was the mildest of dips following the OPEC+ meeting earlier this week.”

Woodside Petroleum (ASX: WPL), Santos (ASX: STO) and Beach Energy (ASX: BPT) opened modestly higher, up between 0.7% and 1.5%.

Earnings roundup 

• Imdex (ASX: IMD) opened 5% higher after its first-half FY22 earnings beat Bell Potter and Citi expectations

• James Hardie (ASX: JHX) shares rose 3% after the building materials company posted a 26% increase in global sales in the December quarter and upgraded its FY22 guidance  

• Argo Investments (ASX: ARG) is trading flat after the fund returned 7.3% to its investors over the six months to 31 December 

• Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) shares fell -4.7% after flagging an 8 basis point decline in net interest margins. ANZ blamed weakening margins on a lower exit rate and persistent “structural headwinds impacting the sector"