On Thursday, the S&P/ASX 200 experienced slight losses despite Guzman y Gomez’s successful debut, marking it as the largest IPO since November 2021. The Australian dollar ended the day unchanged at $US66.7¢. Meanwhile, US equity futures indicated optimism with expectations of record highs, while European central banks were set to announce interest rate decisions, shaping market sentiment across regions.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 5 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a rise of 16.75 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a rise of 120.75 points.
The SPI futures are down 8 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector was REITs, up 0.51 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Health Care, down 0.98 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was Yancoal Australia (ASX:YAL), closing 2 per cent higher at $6.12. It was followed by shares in Aurizon Holdings (ASX:AZJ) and Worley (ASX:WOR).
The worst-performing large cap was Cochlear (ASX:COH), closing 4.76 per cent lower at $315.01. It was followed by shares in Meridian Energy (ASX:MEZ) and James Hardie Industries (ASX:JHX).
Asian markets
Japan’s Nikkei has gained 0.16 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.42 per cent.
China’s Shanghai Composite has gained 0.03 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2,355.80 an ounce.
Iron ore is 1.1 per cent higher at US$107.35 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.5 per cent rise/fall.
Light crude is trading $0.15 lower at US$81.42 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 66.68 US cents.