The single sharpest fact in one or two

punchy sentences. The Australian sharemarket edged higher at the open, while BHP announced record iron ore production over the last financial year.

The S&P/ASX 200 was up 5.3 points, or 0.1 per cent, in early trade, with seven of 11 industry sectors in positive territory. The ASX added 0.4 per cent on Wednesday.

BHP was down 1.2 per cent in early trade to pare some of Wednesday’s 3.2 per cent gain.

Chief executive Brandon Craig said the broader global economic picture was “resilient” despite the volatility in commodity markets as a result of the US-Iran war. “We continue to see strength in the US and China, even as the global economy adjusts to evolving trade dynamics,” he said.

Iron ore production was 1 per cent higher than the previous year and copper production, which fell 3 per cent compared to the previous year, was around 1.95 million tonnes.

Fellow iron ore heavyweights Fortescue (down 0.7 per cent) and Rio Tinto (down 0.3 per cent) were also lower. Gold miners slid lower with the price of the precious metal dipping to be trading just above $US4000 per ounce.

Energy stocks are mixed in early trade. Crude oil extended gains as the US launched fresh strikes on Iran, raising concerns that Middle East tensions will further disrupt energy supplies.

Woodside Energy lost 0.8 per cent and Santos edged up 0.1 per cent.

Financial stocks are stronger, with Commonwealth Bank up 0.9 per cent, National Australia Bank climbing 1 per cent, Westpac advancing 0.3 per cent and ANZ Bank adding 0.7 per cent.

AMP jumped 1.9 per cent in early trade after upping its guidance. The wealth manager now expects first-half underlying net profit after tax to be between $170 million and $180 million.

Technology stocks are mixed in early trade, with WiseTech up 0.5 per cent, Xero rising 1.5 per cent, Technology One losing 0.9 per cent and NEXTDC dipping 0.1 per cent.

Overnight, the S&P 500 rose 0.4 per cent after flipping between modest gains and losses through the day, and it’s back within 0.5 per cent of its all-time high set last month.

Investment giant BlackRock helped lead the market with a rise of 6.6 per cent after the company behind some of the most popular investment funds reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

CEO Laurence Fink said its iShares funds topped $US6 trillion ($8.6 trillion) in assets under management during the quarter, roughly doubling in three years.

SpaceX shares slumped to their lowest level since the rocket, satellite, and artificial intelligence company went public, briefly falling below their initial public offering price.

The stock fell 0.6 per cent to close at $US135.27 on Wednesday, ending the day just above the $US135 per share level that SpaceX sold them to investors at last month as part of a record $US86 billion offering after slumping below the key level intraday.

It was the fourth consecutive day of declines for the stock.

The broad US stock market got a lift from another report showing inflation slowed last month.

The inflation at the wholesale level slowed to 5.5 per cent from 6 per cent in May, and traders weighed softer-than-expected inflation data against escalating attacks in the Middle East for clues to the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate path.

Following the inflation report, traders see just a 10 per cent chance that the Fed will raise its main interest rate at its next meeting in a couple of weeks.

That’s down from the nearly 42 per cent probability they saw on Monday, before the inflation reports, according to data from CME Group.

Also helping to pull down expectations was a speech from John Williams, president of the New York Fed. He said that “there are encouraging reasons to expect that inflation has peaked and should edge down in coming quarters.”

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, meanwhile, gave few clues on what to expect in testimony scheduled for later this week.

The single sharpest fact in one or two punchy sentences. Who did what, where, when, and why it matters.