The Australian sharemarket started on a weak note but has since then bounced back to ignore negative hints from Wall Street. Infotech and Healthcare neutralised the downward pressure from Financials and Materials, staging a broader comeback by the ASX200 from yesterday’s losses.
Aussie tech investors received strong encouragement from the stateside tech rally overnight, as buy-now-pay-later companies such as Afterpay Touch
(ASX:APT) and Zip Co
(ASX:Z1P) were tracking 6.2 per cent 8.5 per cent higher respectively by lunchtime.
Commodity-related stocks sagged following declines in gold and oil prices, as BHP
(ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) shed 1.2 and 0.2 per cent respectively by 11.50am.
The major banks weighed down the market, as Commonwealth retreated by 0.8 per cent before midday.
At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.52 per cent or 38.20 points higher at 7397.20.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 36 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector is Information Technology, up 3.43 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Energy, down 1.89 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Zip Co (ASX:Z1P), trading 9.18 per cent higher at $8.09. It is followed by shares in Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) and Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals (ASX:CUV).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Nuix (ASX:NXL), trading 3.62 per cent lower at $2.66. It is followed by shares in Santos (ASX:STO) and Newcrest Mining (ASX:NCM).
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$1784.99 an ounce.
Iron ore is 3.1 per cent higher at US$220.82 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 2.57 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 75.54 US cents.
