Staff writersUpdated June 30, 2026 — 10:42am,first published June 30, 2026 — 5:19amThe Australian sharemarket has made a steady start to the last session of the financial year after tech stocks drove US stocks higher on Wall Street, breaking a five-day losing streak for its benchmark index.The S&P/ASX 200 was down 2.4 points to 8820.90 in early trade, with eight of 11 industry sectors in positive territory. The ASX added 0.7 per cent on Monday. The Australian dollar was trading at US68.74¢.Wall Street has made a winning start to the week. BloombergFinancial stocks are stronger with Westpac up 1 per cent, ANZ Bank adding 0.7 per cent, Commonwealth Bank rising 0.4 per cent and National Australia Bank climbing 0.2 per cent.Mining stocks lost ground as commodities’ prices weakened. BHP fell 0.8 per cent, Fortescue lost 0.3 per cent and Rio Tinto shed 1.5 per cent in early trade. Gold stocks fell as the precious metal retreated, with Northern Star down 1.6 per cent and Evolution Mining retreating 2.2 per cent.Energy stocks are mixed as US oil prices dipped in early Asian trade after rising overnight before expected US-Iran talks in Doha, as conflicting signals from Washington and Tehran cast doubt over the next phase of negotiations to end the four-month war. Woodside Energy lost 0.6 per cent while Santos added 0.1 per cent. Among the refiners, Ampol and Viva Energy were both 0.5 per cent lower in early trade.Technology stocks are mixed with Xero adding 0.4 per cent and Technology One 0.3 per cent but WiseTech lost 0.5 per cent and NEXTDC fell 1.8 per cent.The S&P 500 climbed 1.2 per cent overnight. It was coming off just its second losing week in the last 13. The Dow Jones added 306 points, or 0.6 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 2.1 per cent.Several stocks boosted by the artificial-intelligence boom rose after Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix said they will invest roughly $US518 billion ($752 billion) in a new chipmaking hub in South Korea, as its president hopes to capitalise on surging AI demand.Applied Materials, whose equipment helps make semiconductors, rallied 10.8 per cent to vault its gain for the year so far above 170 per cent.“The bounce we’re seeing is a welcome development for the bulls,” said Matt Maley at Miller Tabak.“We continue to believe strongly that the action in the tech sector will continue to be the main driver in the stock market.”AI stocks have been on a roller-coaster ride recently after soaring to tremendous heights. They’re under pressure because of worries that their profits can’t possibly keep pace with the huge gains for their stock prices. And the moves have an outsized effect on investors because AI stocks have become some of Wall Street’s largest and most influential, giving them more weight on indexes than others.Nvidia was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500, for example, after its stock rose 1.3 per cent. That’s because it’s Wall Street’s biggest stock with a total value of more than $US4.7 trillion.SpaceX, which owns the xAI business along with rockets, has already become worth more than $US2 trillion after its stock’s ballyhooed debut on the Nasdaq earlier this month, with sharp rises and falls along the way. It’s become big enough that Nasdaq said Elon Musk’s company will join the Nasdaq 100 index before trading begins on July 7, which will force funds tracking the index to buy the stock.SpaceX climbed 7.2 per cent.Outside of AI, Comcast rose 4.5 per cent after saying it will split off its NBCUniversal media business and Sky from its broadband and wireless business. Its stock came into the day with a loss of 17.3 per cent for the year so far.That helped offset a 5.2 per cent drop for Verizon Communications, which said it’s paying $US625 million as part of a deal to combine its international wireline connectivity and managed network services business with some of London-based BT Group’s subsidiaries in a joint venture.The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.37 per cent from 4.38 per cent late Friday and from 4.56 per cent early this month.In stock markets abroad, indexes dipped modestly in Europe following mixed performances in Asia.Stocks jumped 1.6 per cent in Hong Kong and 1.2 per cent in Shanghai for two of the world’s biggest gains, while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.2 per cent.With AP, BloombergThe Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day’s trading. Get it each weekday afternoon.From our partners