The Australian sharemarket fluctuated throughout the afternoon session and ascended back into the buy zone to wrap up the roller-coaster trading day on a positive note.
Upbeat data on retail performance fueled a rally in Consumer Staples, as the sector teamed up with Healthcare and IT to neutralise the broader pull-back by materials driven by declining iron ore prices.
CSL pumped the most steam into health care, rising 2.2 per cent by the close of trade. Meanwhile, the tech sector powered up today, as EML Payments
(ASX:EML) led the charge and rose 15.8 per cent.
At the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.15 per cent or 10.70 points higher at 7030.30. Over the week, it closed 16.10 points or 0.23 per cent higher.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a rise of 87.00 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a rise of 10.25 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a rise of 31.75 points.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 13 points when the market next opens.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector was Health Care, up 1.77 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Energy, down 2.02 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was EML Payments (ASX:EML), closing 15.81 per cent higher at $3.37. It was followed by shares in The A2 Milk Company (ASX:A2M) and Webjet (ASX:WEB).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Kogan.Com (ASX:KGN), closing 14.29 per cent lower at $8.70. It was followed by shares in Nufarm (ASX:NUF) and Appen (ASX:APX).
Asian markets
Japan's Nikkei has gained 0.62%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has lost 0.16%.
China's Shanghai Composite has lost 0.47%.
Wall Street
Over the last four trading days, the Dow Jones lost 0.87 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 0.35 per cent and the Nasdaq gained 0.78 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$1875.59 an ounce.
Iron ore is 2.00 per cent lower at US$211.85 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 2.10 per cent.
Light crude is trading $0.02 higher at US$60.33 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 77.58 US cents.
