Australian Shares Flat; Karoon Energy Cuts 2026 Production Guidance Due to Operational Issues at Joint Venture
Australian shares were flat on Tuesday after the Reserve Bank of Australia kept interest rates on hold as expected.The S&P/ASX 200 Index was little changed to close at 8,917.70.On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 1.7%, the Nasdaq Composite jumped 3.1%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high, rising 0.9%.Brent crude oil futures fell just 0.3% to $82.96 per barrel.On the domestic front, the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to leave the cash rate target unchanged at 4.35%. The bank said financial conditions are now tighter following three rate increases since the beginning of the year, with signs that the economy is slowing as expected.However, inflation remains too high, prompting the bank's monetary policy board to leave the cash rate unchanged while assessing the impact of previous rises and the oil supply disruption.The ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian consumer confidence edged down 0.1 points to 70.7 in the week of June 8 to June 14. Household sentiment improved on personal finances and major purchases, even as confidence in broader economic conditions slipped amid escalating Middle East tensions, according to ANZ economist Sophia Angala.In company news, Karoon Energy (ASX:KAR) lowered its aggregate production guidance for the year to between 7.2 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) and 8.2 MMboe from a previous range of 8.1 to 9.2 MMboe. The downgrade is a result of operational issues at the company's Who Dat joint venture, which operates a namesake oil and gas field in the Gulf of Mexico.Atlas Arteria (ASX:ALX) said that IFM Global Infrastructure Fund subsidiary Diamond Infraco 1 and its affiliates raised their stake in the company to 38.26% from 34.48% as of Monday. IFM Global now holds 555.3 million securities of the company.Lastly, Valiant Gold (ASX VAL) said assay results from its maiden drilling program at the South Emu-Trito mine in Western Australia confirmed mineralized extensions to around 400 meters below the existing resource.
