Total 6 of 11 sectors ended higher along with the S&P/ASX 200 Index. Telecommunication Services was the best performing sector, gaining 2.66%, followed by materials (up 0.79%), industrials (up 0.5%), consumer staples (up 0.47%), and consumer discretionary (up 0.43%) sectors, while utilities was worst performing sector, down 3.24%, followed by healthcare (down 0.8%), Information technology (down 0.79%), and real estate (down 0.43%) sectors.
The best performing stocks in the S&P/ASX200 were Iluka Resources (up 11.7%), Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals (up 4.7%), Chalice Mining (up 4.7%), Telstra Corp (up 4.4%), and Mineral Resources (up 4.1%), while the worst performing stocks were Nuix (down 13%), AGL Energy (down 10%), Kogan.com (down 9.5%), Appen (down 4.9%), and Collins Foods (down 4.3%).
Australia's biggest telecom firm Telstra Corp rose 4.4% after it has agreed to sell a 49% stake in its Towers business which consists of roughly 8,200 mobile towers, to a consortium including several superannuation funds and Australia's Future Fund. Net proceeds from the sale are expected to be $2.8b with about half of those funds expected to be returned to shareholders in FY22.
Shares of mineral sands miner Iluka gained 11.7% after news that Rio Tinto would be halting its mineral sands mine in Richard Bay, South Africa, due to violence against its machinery and staff. Iluka's seen as one of the prime beneficiaries of Rio Tinto's decision.
In economic news, private sector credit rose 0.4% in May to be up 1.9% on the year.
CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7516, down from levels around 0.758 seen earlier this week.
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