Welcome to your five-minute recap of the trading day.
The numbers Large rises in energy stocks coupled with moderate growth in most other sectors was able to offset a poor day of performance for healthcare, allowing the bourse to remain relatively flat throughout Wednesday.
Another day of losses on Wall Street made for a lacklustre morning on the ASX. Credit: Bloomberg
Australian shares had been expected to slip after Wall Street fell almost 1 per cent overnight but the S&P/ASX 200 closed 26.9 points, or 0.3 per cent, higher, reaching 8178.3, with nine of the 11 sectors rising. The Australian dollar was trading at US64.85¢ after closing.
The lifters The strongest performing sector was energy, which was up a 2.1 per cent. Ampol, which rose 2.8 per cent, led the sector, followed by a strong rise at Santos (up 2 per cent), Woodside (up 1.7 per cent), and Yancoal (up 1 per cent). Energy and telecom firm Mercury NZ finished 3.4 per cent higher.
The real estate and consumer discretionary sectors both gained 0.8 per cent. Buy now, pay later group Zip Co was the top 200’s best performer, rallying 13 per cent to $1.83 after announcing it would double its earnings this financial year.
It was also a strong day for Qantas, which rose 3.3 per cent. Results were mixed for the big banks, with NAB and ANZ up 1.6 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively. Commonwealth Bank and Westpac fell 0.5 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively.
Macquarie managed to rise 1 per cent despite ASIC calling for an independent expert to review the bank’s futures dealing business and over-the-counter derivatives trade reporting.
The laggards Healthcare was the hardest-hit sector on W
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