The Australian sharemarket edged lower in the afternoon session as tech stocks weighed on the market. On a positive note, the ASX managed to finish in positive territory thanks gains in miners, banks and energy stocks.
At the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.1 per cent or 8 points higher at 7,304. Over the week, it closed 0.7 per cent or 50 points lower.
Across the sectors, 6 out of 11 sectors closed in the green. Materials were the best performer, up 1.2 per cent, followed by energy up 1.1 per cent, then utilities, up 1 per cent. Meanwhile, technology tumbled 3.9 per cent, followed by communication services, down 1.2 per cent.
Gold miners were in spotlight today, with Northern Star
(ASX:NST) up 5.6 per cent and St Barbara
(ASX:SBM) up 4.5 per cent. Heavyweight miners also lifted, led by BHP
(ASX:BHP) and Fortescue
(ASX:FMG) both up 1.4 per cent as iron ore prices traded higher.
Energy stocks made gains, with Woodside petroleum
(ASX:WPL) up 1 per cent, Ampol
(ASX:ALD) up 1.9 per cent and Whitehaven Coal
(ASX:WHC) up 5 per cent.
Major banks also lifted, despite Macquarie
(ASX:MQG) falling 0.7 per cent. Commonwealth
(ASX:CBA) led the pack, closing 2.6 per cent higher. Meanwhile, liquor business Endeavour
(ASX:EDV) surged 5.1 per cent, despite no official news released to the market.
Tech stocks continued its losses. Buy now, pay later giant Afterpay
(ASX:APT) closed 7.3 per cent lower following approval from NSW Supreme Court for its deal with Square, while Zip Co
(ASX:Z1P) also fell 5.7 per cent. Amid techs fall, payment software Xero
(ASX:XRO) was down 4.4 per cent, Altium
(ASX:ALU) was down 4.8 per cent and Megaport
(ASX:MP1) was down 5.1 per cent.
In headlines today, Sonic Healthcare
(ASX:SHL) was down 2.1 per cent following the US acquisition of ProPath. Healius
(ASX:HLS), another healthcare company, was down 3 per cent, following a $301.3 million deal to acquire Agilex Biolabs.
Property portal Domain
(ASX:DHG) tumbled 8.5 per cent despite no official news released to the market.
Company newsPlease join us for Stocks of the Hour
here.Medical laboratory company Sonic Healthcare
(ASX:SHL) has acquired US pathology company ProPath, based in Texas.
Healthcare company Healius
(ASX:HLS) is set to acquire bioanalytical laboratory Agilex Biolabs for an enterprise value of $301.3 million.
Roads developer Transurban
(ASX:TCL) has reached an agreement with the Victorian Government and its subcontractor, with costs adjustments for the West Gate Tunnel Project.
The NSW Supreme Court has approved Afterpay’s
(ASX:APT) proposed takeover by Block, the US payments group formerly known as Square.
Corporate Travel Management
(ASX:CTD) has completed its $75 million placement to partly fund the acquisition of Helloworld’s corporate travel business.
Property group Dexus
(ASX:DXS) has increased the total valuation of its property assets by about $421 million over the six months to December 31, or 2.4 per cent on prior book values.
FuturesThe Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 22 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 5 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 34 points.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 21 points when the market next opens.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector was Materials, up 1.2 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Information Technology, down 3.9 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Northern Star Resources
(ASX:NST), closing 5.6 per cent higher at $9.45. It was followed by shares in IRESS
(ASX:IRE) and Champion <br>Iron
(ASX:CIA).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Domain Holdings Australia
(ASX:DHG), closing 8.5 per cent lower at $5.16. It was followed by shares in Afterpay
(ASX:APT) and Life360 Inc.
(ASX:360).
IPOsSHAPE Australia Corporation
(ASX:SHA) listed on the ASX today. Its shares issued at $1.96, opened at $2.05 and closed at $2.01.
IPD Group
(ASX:IPG) listed on the ASX today. Its shares issued at $1.20, opened at $1.045 and closed at $1.06.
Winton Land
(ASX:WTN) listed on the ASX today. Its shares issued at $4.10, opened at $3.66 and closed at $3.76.
Asian marketsJapan's Nikkei has lost 1.6 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has lost 1.1 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has lost 0.9 per cent.
Wall StreetOver the last four trading days, the Dow Jones lost 0.2 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 0.9 per cent and the Nasdaq lost 3 per cent.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1805.00 an ounce.
Iron ore is 4.6 per cent higher at US$114.70 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 1.9 per cent.
Light crude is trading $0.82 lower at US$71.33 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 71.65 US cents.
That's a wrap for the week, have a nice weekend.
