The Australian sharemarket closed slightly higher on Monday amid a subdued trading session as investors focused on a series of company profit reports on the ASX. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose by 0.1%, or 9.3 points, to 7980.4, with seven of the 11 sectors finishing in the red. Utilities led the gains, with stocks like Origin and AGL rising, while the consumer staples sector was the weakest, led by a2 Milk’s sharp decline of 18.7% due to challenging conditions in China. Major stocks such as Westpac and Suncorp posted strong results, while others like Ampol, Lendlease, and BlueScope saw declines due to weaker financial performance. In commodities, gold stocks surged on record gold prices, while iron ore futures rebounded. Key upcoming reports from retailers such as Domino’s Pizza and Breville are expected to provide further insights into consumer sentiment and the impact of higher interest rates.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 41 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 6 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 37.5 points.
The SPI futures are up 16 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector was Utilities, up 1.67 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Consumer Staples, down 0.83 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was EBOS Group (ASX:EBO), closing 2.91 per cent higher at $34.35. It was followed by shares in Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN) and Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX:WBC).
The worst-performing large cap was The a2 Milk Company (ASX:A2M), closing 18.69 per cent lower at $5.70. It was followed by shares in Ampol (ASX:ALD) and Reece (ASX:REH).
Asian markets
Japan’s Nikkei has lost 1.77 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has gained 0.79 per cent.
China’s Shanghai Composite has gained 0.21 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2,542.80 an ounce.
Iron ore is 0.9 per cent lower at US$91.90 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.07 per cent rise.
Light crude is trading $0.39 lower at US$76.26 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 66.83 US cents.