The Australian sharemarket snapped its two-day losing streak closing 0.5 per cent or 37 points higher at 7,407 as a surge in material stocks buoyed the index higher. Today's acceleration didn't claw back the losses seen this week as concerns of the delta-variant continues to weigh against the outlook for the pandemic rebound. Over the week, the local bourse closed 1.6 per cent or 116 points lower.
Among the sectors, gains were almost across the board as materials rebounded, gaining 1.7 per cent as the best performer. Only two sectors closed lower with healthcare as the worst performer, down 0.7 per cent followed by property closing 0.2 per cent lower.
Gains across the heavyweight miners were led by Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) adding 2.6 per cent while BHP
(ASX:BHP) marginally added 0.6 per cent. Meanwhile, its peers boosted the index higher with the likes of South32
(ASX:S32) up 5.9 per cent, Alumina
(ASX:AWC) surged 6.3 per cent while Mineral Resources jumped 5.6 per cent higher as the price of base metals rose.
Energy stocks rallied after Santos
(ASX:STO) and Oil Search
(ASX:OSH) finalised their $21 billion merger. Santos
(ASX:STO) closed 0.7 per cent higher while Oil Search
(ASX:OSH) added 2.2 per cent
Wealth platform provider Iress
(ASX:IRE) closed 1.9 per cent lower after private equity group, EQT's due diligence period was extended for 10 days.
Big names such as Qantas
(ASX:QAN) closed 2.1 per cent higher while Commonwealth
(ASX:CBA) added 0.5 per cent. Telstra
(ASX:TLS) closed flat. Meanwhile, Woolworths
(ASX:WOW) closed 0.4 per cent lower after they pledged to issue $880 million of sustainable bonds to Europe.
Company news Please join us for Stocks of the Hour
here. Infratil
(ASX:IFT) committed $315 million (US 233 million) to establish Gurin Energy, a renewable energy development platform
Supermarket giant Woolworths
(ASX:WOW) has committed to $880 million (EU 550 million) in bonds, outlining their sustainability goals of reducing carbon emissions.
Energy giants Santos
(ASX:STO) and Oil Search
(ASX:OSH) have finalised their $21 billion merger, after ongoing talk.
PolyNovo
(ASX:PNV) announced its chief operating officer Dr Anthony Kaye has resigned. Dr Kaye is returning to bio tech firm CSL, where he originally came from.
IPOMt Malcolm Mines NL
(ASX:M2M) listed on the ASX today. It issued at $0.20, opened at $0.29 and closed at $0.185.
Zoom2u
(ASX:Z2U) listed on the ASX today with issue price issue price at $0.20, opening at $0.35 and closing at $0.43.
Culpeo Minerals
(ASX:CPO) listed on the ASX today with issue price at $0.20. It opened at $0.22 and closed at $0.23..
FuturesThe Dow Jones futures are pointing to a rise of 133 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a rise of 13 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a rise of 32 points.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 40 points when the market next opens.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector was Materials, up 1.7 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Health Care, down 0.7 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Nickel Mines
(ASX:NIC), closing 8.5 per cent higher at $1.08. It was followed by shares in Alumina
(ASX:AWC) and South32
(ASX:S32).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was PolyNovo
(ASX:PNV), closing 5.7 per cent lower at $1.92. It was followed by shares in Omni Bridgeway
(ASX:OBL) and Chorus
(ASX:CNU).
Asian marketsJapan's Nikkei has gained 1.1 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has gained 1.6 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has gained 0.4 per cent.
Wall StreetOver the last four trading days, the Dow Jones lost 1.4 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 0.9 per cent and the Nasdaq lost 0.8 per cent.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1802.12 an ounce.
Iron ore is 1.5 per cent lower at US$130.26 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 0.3 per cent.
Light crude is trading $0.52 higher at US$68.13 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 73.81 US cents.
