During the late afternoon trading session, the financial sector experienced a notable increase in its gains.
All the major banks demonstrated positive performance, with Commonwealth Bank
(ASX:CBA) shares surging by 1 per cent, National Australia Bank
(ASX:NAB) rising by 1 per cent, Westpac
(ASX:WBC) adding 1.1 per cent, and ANZ Bank
(ASX:ANZ) edging up by 0.4 per cent.
Macquarie Group
(ASX:MQG), an investment bank, exhibited a rise of 1.4 per cent.
Insurance Australia Group
(ASX:IAG) witnessed a strong rally of 2.8 per cent, while QBE Insurance
(ASX:QBE) slightly increased by 0.8 per cent.
At the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.32 per cent higher at 7,161.70.
FuturesThe Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 64 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 1.5 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 5.5 points.
The SPI futures are up 23 points.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector was Materials, up 2.49 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Health Care, down 4.82 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was Mercury NZ
(ASX:MCY), closing 5.33 per cent higher at $5.93. It was followed by shares in Mineral Resources
(ASX:MIN) and Allkem
(ASX:AKE).
The worst-performing large cap was CSL
(ASX:CSL), closing 6.89 per cent lower at $287.25. It was followed by shares in Auckland International Airport
(ASX:AIA) and EBOS Group
(ASX:EBO).
Asian marketsJapan's Nikkei has gained 1.48 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has lost 0.57 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has gained 0.83 per cent.
Company newsGolden Mile Resources
(ASX:G88) announced the highest-ever nickel grades at their Quicksilver project in WA. MD Damon Dormer said, “We have a significantly higher-grade -zone within the overall Resource with the potential of disseminated nickel mineralisation.” Shares closed 138 per cent higher at 5.7 cents.
NickelSearch
(ASX:NIS) announced that their Sexton Prospect diamond drillhole intersects massive sulphide mineralisation at depth. MD, Nicole Duncan, commented: “[This] intersection confirms the presence of massive sulphide mineralisation at depth and gives us significant optimism.” Shares closed 20.3 per cent higher at 7.7 cents.
Encounter Resources
(ASX:ENR) announced that there diamond drill program has been expanded at their project in WA. MD Will Robinson said: “The survey…has resolved into a suite of structurally complex density anomalies interpreted as potential alkaline intrusions.” Shares closed 7.3 per cent higher at 25.8 cents.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1,959.60 an ounce.
Iron ore is 0.4 per cent higher at US$112.90 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.75 per cent rise.
Light crude is trading $0.22 higher at US$69.64 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 67.66 US cents.
