The Australian sharemarket corresponded with Wall Street’s overnight rally and advanced deeper back into the 7000s territory at the open, driven by surges in the banking and energy sectors. The big four banks were all tracking in the buy zone by midday, as bank stocks fed off stateside gains. Energy gained ground this morning, as Origin
(ASX:ORG) and Beach Energy
(ASX:BPT) were tracking 1.2 and 0.8 per cent higher by lunchtime.
The main drags on the ASX are healthcare and IT. The tech sector contradicted its US counterpart and tumbled into the negative region. The Infotech index fluctuated between the red and black just before midday, amidst as a tug of war between Aussie tech companies. While shares in buy now pay later platforms Afterpay
(ASX:APT) and Zip Co
(ASX:Z1P) soared, accounting solutions company Xero
(ASX:XRO) slid to the bottom of the Australian benchmark’s performance chart by midday.
At noon, the ASX200 is tracking 0.8 per cent higher or 57 points up at 7040. Its futures are pointing to a gain of 46 points
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector is Energy, up 1.65 per cent while the worst-performing sector is Information Technology down 0.4 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Whitehaven Coal
(ASX:GNC) trading 9.2 per cent higher at $1.37, followed by shares in Perenti Global
(ASX:PRN) and Treasury Wine Estate
(ASX:TWE).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Xero
(ASX:XRO) trading 4.4 per cent lower at $112.20 followed by shares in Pilbara Minerals
(ASX:PLS) and Nanosonicss
(ASX:NAN).
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1824.42 an ounce.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 4.1 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 77.27 US cents.
