The Australian share market peaked at an all-time high, ending the week on a positive note. At the closing bell, the ASX was 0.5 per cent or 41 points higher at 7,629. Over the week, it gained 1.2 per cent or 91 points.
All sectors closed in the black, except Materials, which dipped 0.1 per cent lower. The best-performing sector was Health Care, up 1.95 per cent.
Technology and Consumer Discretionary stocks were also strong, while the Commonwealth Bank weighed on the Financial sector.
Health care giant CSL
(ASX:CSL) closed 2.5 per cent higher, Sonic Health Care
(ASX:SHL) closed 1.4 per cent higher and Fisher and Paykel
(ASX:FPH) closed 2.4 per cent higher.
Buy now, pay later giant Afterpay
(ASX:APT) closed 0.4 per cent higher, while its rival, Zip Co
(ASX:Z1P), closed 1 per cent higher. Payment platform Zero
(ASX:ZRO) also closed 1 per cent higher.
Onto banks, the Commonwealth
(ASX:CBA) was left out of the rally, closing 1.7 per cent lower. Westpac
(ASX:WBC) closed 1.5 per cent higher, ANZ
(ASX:ANZ) closed 0.6 per cent higher and NAB
(ASX:NAB) closed 1.5 per cent higher.
Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers
(ASX:WES) also had a good run, closing 1 per cent higher.
Mining giants pulled back from some early losses with Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) closing 0.2 per cent higher. BHP
(ASX:BHP) closed 0.3 per cent lower and Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) closed 0.7 per cent lower.
Shares in maternity and baby goods retailer Baby Bunting
(ASX:BBN) closed 4.3 per cent lower following its FY21 results.
NSW recorded 390 new Covid-19 cases, its highest number yet. Victoria recorded 15 new cases and Queensland recorded 7 new cases.
Company newsPlease join us for Stocks of the Hour
here. Air New Zealand
(ASX:AIZ) deferred its planned capital raise with Crown until the first available window in calendar year 2022.
Baby Bunting
(ASX:BBN) records total sales of $468.4 million for the period ending 30 Jun 2021 (FY21), up 15.6 per cent from the prior year.
PointsBet's
(ASX:PBH) wholly owned subsidiary PointsBet West Virginia, has launched its online sports betting operations in US West Virginia.
Galan Lithium
(ASX:GLN) received firm commitments to raise $50 million through a two-tranche placement.
FuturesThe Dow Jones futures are pointing to a rise of 12 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 1 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 11 points.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 48 points when the market next opens.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector was Health Care, up 1.95 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Materials, down 0.01 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Downer EDI
(ASX:DOW), closing 5.2 per cent higher at $6.07. It was followed by shares in Premier Investments
(ASX:PMV) and The Star Ent Group
(ASX:SGR).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Chalice Mining
(ASX:CHN), closing 5.7 per cent lower at $6.35. It was followed by shares in Orocobre
(ASX:ORE) and Suncorp Group
(ASX:SUN).
Asian marketsJapan's Nikkei has lost 0.03 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has lost 1.02 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has lost 0.4 per cent.
Wall StreetOver the last four trading days, the Dow Jones gained 0.8 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.5 per cent and the Nasdaq lost 0.1 per cent.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1757.88 an ounce.
Iron ore is 1.5 per cent lower at US$162.96 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 1.5 per cent.
Light crude is trading $0.69 lower at US$68.21 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 73.36 US cents.
