Staff reportersJuly 7, 2026 — 6:37amThe Australian sharemarket has fallen in early trade as shares in the major miners lost ground, even as a rebound overnight for tech stocks in the US sent indexes higher on Wall Street.The S&P/ASX 200 was 0.5 per cent lower shortly before 11am AEST on Tuesday, as materials were the weakest performing sector of the market. The decline follows a soft day on Monday as trading volumes plunged and investors awaited the next market-moving catalyst.AI stocks have swung sharply in recent weeks on worries that their prices shot too high. Mining giants were mostly weaker, with BHP down 0.4 per cent and Rio Tinto falling 1.1 per cent. Gold miners also slipped, as Northern Star (down 2.8 per cent), Evolution Mining (down 3.3 per cent) and Newmont (down 0.9 per cent) traded in the red.Technology shares were stronger, following a rise in US artificial intelligence shares that lifted Wall Street overnight.WiseTech was the strongest performer in the local tech sector, surging 9.5 per cent, after Richard White stepped down as chair of the logistics software company he built. White will hand the role to independent director Raelene Murphy, as a plummeting share price and allegations about his personal life pile pressure on the billionaire. White will remain on the board as an executive director and keep his role as chief innovation officer.Other technology companies including NextDC (up 1.6 per cent) and Xero (up 1.5 per cent) were also in the green.The major banks were mixed, with Commonwealth Bank and Westpac both up 0.2 per cent. NAB (down 0.1 per cent) and ANZ Bank (down 0.3 per cent) started weaker.In the US, the S&P 500 rose 0.7 per cent and pulled back within 1 per cent of its all-time high, even though the majority of stocks within the index fell. The strength of AI companies sent the Nasdaq composite 1.1 per cent higher, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 155 points, or 0.3 per cent, to a record.AI stocks have swung sharply in recent weeks on concerns that their prices shot too high. Doubts are rising about whether all the dollars flowing into AI chips and data centres can possibly create enough gains in productivity and profits to recoup investments.Broadcom was one of the strongest forces, lifting the S&P 500, and rose 3.7 per cent after announcing long-term agreements to provide silicon products to Apple. It was coming off consecutive losses of more than 2 per cent on Wednesday and Thursday, before Friday’s holiday in advance of the Fourth of July.The global appetite for AI from investors will face an additional test later this week when SK Hynix, the South Korean maker of computer memory, plans to raise $US28 billion by selling shares of stock that will trade in the United States on the Nasdaq. That would make it one of the biggest US offerings ever, behind SpaceX’s IPO from last month, which raised $US75 billion.SK Hynix’s stock in Seoul has more than tripled this year because of the AI boom, but its day-to-day swings have included sharp losses in recent weeks. It fell 14.6 per cent on Thursday alone, for example.Stock in SpaceX, which owns the xAI business, has likewise swung following its ballyhooed initial public offering.It erased an early gain to fall 1 per cent in the last day of trading before it’s scheduled to join the Nasdaq 100 index of the largest non-financial stocks on the exchange. That inclusion will make funds like the QQQ exchange-traded fund, which mimic the index, to buy SpaceX themselves.Elsewhere in AI, TeraWulf climbed 4.9 per cent after it said Anthropic agreed to a 20-year deal to use its data centre in Kentucky. TeraWulf expects the deal to bring in roughly $US19 billion in revenue. TeraWulf is moving its business away from mining bitcoin into high-performance computing.In the oil market, prices drifted after OPEC+ announced on Sunday that seven of its members plan to expand oil production by a combined total of 188,000 barrels a day in August. It was the fifth straight month that OPEC+ members have agreed to raise output, moves that tend to weigh on oil prices.The price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.2 per cent to $US71.99. That’s close to where it was before the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February and sent prices spiking.In the bond market, Treasury yields easedslightly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.47 per cent from 4.49 per cent late Thursday.A report showed that growth last month for US recreation, finance and other services businesses was roughly in line with economists’ expectations. The survey by the Institute for Supply Management found that some businesses said they were paying less for fuel, easing inflationary pressures.In stock markets abroad, indexes fell modestly in much of Europe and Asia. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, the outlier, rose 1.1 per cent.The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. 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