by Peter Milios
At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.19 per cent lower at 7,241.90.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 strengthened by 0.5 percent, the Nasdaq rose by 1 percent, and the Dow Jones declined by 0.1 percent.
At the beginning of the session, the dollar stood at approximately 67.90 cents against the US currency.
The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 17 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector is Information Technology, up 1.5 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Utilities, down 1.0 per cent.
The best-performing large cap is Allkem (ASX:AKE), trading 15.49 per cent higher at $14.91. It is followed by shares in Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) and SEEK (ASX:SEK).
The worst-performing large cap is Infratil (ASX:IFT), trading 2.44 per cent lower at $8.78. It is followed by shares in Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC) and Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC).
Asian news
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed after Wall Street saw a tech rally as US consumer price index rose less than expected for April.
The consumer price index showed a reading of 4.9 per cent, slightly less than the 5 per cent gain anticipated by economists polled by Dow Jones. Month-over-month, inflation matched expectations with a 0.4 per cent increase.
Investors in Asia will be closely watching the inflation print from China for April, which came in slower than expected at 0.1 per cent, compared to the 0.4 per cent forcasted in a Reuters poll.
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite gained marginally and the Shenzhen Component advanced 0.12 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.22 per cent, while the Hang Seng Tech index popped 1.5 per cent on early trade.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 traded down 0.15 per cent , while the Topix saw a larger loss of 0.29 per cent
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.5 per cent and the Kosdaq saw a larger gain of 0.66 per cent.
Company news
Prospech Limited (ASX:PRS) has completed the inspection and sampling of historic drill core from the Korsnäs Project in Finland. Prospech Managing Director Jason Beckton commented: “The recent core logging and sampling have revealed potential zones of REE mineralisation.” Shares are trading 33.3 per cent higher at 4.4 cents.
Allkem (ASX:AKE) and Livent announce definitive agreement to combine in an all-stock merger of equals valuing the combined company at US$10.6 billion. Allkem’s CEO, Martín Pérez de Solay, said: “We are bringing together two highly complementary businesses to create a leading global lithium chemicals company.” Shares are trading 14.5 per cent higher at $14.79.
Brookside Energy (ASX:BRK) has delivered the highest rate recorded to date at the Wolf Pack in the US. In response, MD, David Prentice said: “[this project] is capable of delivering the very high rates of return and fast pay backs that make this the most highly sought after area in the basin.” Shares are trading 14.3 per cent higher at 1.6 cents.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2040.20 an ounce.
Iron ore is 1.4 per cent higher at US$107.50 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 2.2 per cent fall.
One Australian dollar is buying 67.78 US cents.
