On Wednesday, the Australian sharemarket surged to a new intraday high, driven by a strong performance in interest rate-sensitive sectors such as technology and real estate. The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 0.7% higher at 8057.9 points, with all 11 sectors seeing gains. Property stocks rose by 1.5%, led by Goodman and Scentre, while the information technology sector advanced 1.2%, buoyed by gains in WiseTech and Life360. The rally was supported by positive sentiment from a record-setting session on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones and S&P 500 also closed higher.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 7 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 14.5 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 95 points.
The SPI futures are up 71 points.
Best and worst performers
All sectors are in the black. The best-performing sector was REITs, up 1.49 per cent. The sector with the fewest gains was Materials, up 0.08 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was James Hardie Industries (ASX:JHX), closing 6.30 per cent higher at $53.62. It was followed by shares in Reece (ASX:REH) and Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST).
The worst-performing large cap was Yancoal Australia (ASX:YAL), closing 3.22 per cent lower at $6.91. It was followed by shares in Fortescue (ASX:FMG) and BHP Group (ASX:BHP).
Asian markets
Japan’s Nikkei has lost 0.39 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has gained 0.17 per cent.
China’s Shanghai Composite has gained 0.20 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2,469.50 an ounce.
Iron ore is 1.4 per cent lower at US$107.25 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 1.6 per cent fall.
Light crude is trading $0.14 lower at US$80.61 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 67.33 US cents.