ASX 200: Santos' Abu Dhabi bidder spruiks Aus focus; Oil lifts as Trump weighs Middle East action
First comments by Santos' $30bn bidder come as target's shareholder backs takeover. Oil lifts as Trump weighs Middle East action. MinRes leads iron ore falls.
That's all from the Trading Day blog for Wednesday, June 18. The ASX 200 index closed down 0.1 per cent at 8531.2 points amid falls in the materials, property and utilities sectors but most sectors rose despite Middle East jitters.
All three key US indexes closed in the red, with the S&P 500 shedding 0.8 per cent, the Dow Jones falling 0.7 per cent and the technology-focused Nasdaq shedding 0.9 per cent.
Fears about an oil supply crisis linked to Iran's conflict with Israel have kept prices on the boil - the global benchmark Brent crude is near $US76 per barrel and the US WTI is at $US73 per barrel.
Cryptocurrency giant bitcoin is above $US104,900.
The Aussie dollar is trading around US64.86c.
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Originally published as ASX 200: Santos' Abu Dhabi bidder spruiks Aus focus; Oil lifts as Trump weighs Middle East action
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