The Australian sharemarket extended the week’s volatile trend and fluctuated between the buy and sell zones during Friday’s morning session.
Despite a positive start, the ASX200 descended from yesterday’s record close before bouncing back again into green territory. Advances by technology and mining stocks overpowered the downward pressure from financials.
The Australian technology sector mirrored the surge by US tech stocks overnight, as Afterpay
(ASX:APT) soared nearly 4 per cent and Xero
(ASX:XRO) gained 2.3 per cent by lunchtime.
Materials joined the rally following rises in iron ore and gold prices, as BHP
(ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) were both tracking 0.6 per cent higher buy midday.
Financials remain the biggest laggards on the market, as the big four banks all sagged in morning trade.
At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.19 per cent or 13.90 points higher at 7316.40.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 10 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector is Information Technology, up 1.86 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Financials, down 0.62 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Mesoblast (ASX:MSB), trading 5.91 per cent higher at $2.15. It is followed by shares in Appen (ASX:APX) and Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is IRESS (ASX:IRE), trading 3.28 per cent lower at $12.37. It is followed by shares in EML Payments (ASX:EML) and Eagers Automotive (ASX:APE).
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$1900.10 an ounce.
Iron ore is 2.00 per cent higher at US$216.84 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 2.80 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 77.55 US cents.
