by Peter Milios
On Tuesday, at the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.45 per cent lower at 7,234.70, as the healthcare, tech, and consumer staples sectors witnessed drops, which counterbalanced the gains seen in the materials sector.
Ahead of the release of US retail sales and industrial production data, along with upcoming reports from prominent US retail companies, S&P 500 futures declined by 0.3 per cent. Simultaneously, the ongoing debt ceiling standoff persists.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 94 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 10.5 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 15.5 points.
The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 38 points when the market next opens.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector was Materials, up 0.22 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Consumer Staples, down 1.23 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was James Hardie Industries (ASX:JHX), closing 8.27 per cent higher at $36.80. It was followed by shares in Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) and IGO (ASX:IGO).
The worst-performing large cap was Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR), closing 3.41 per cent lower at $2.83. It was followed by shares in ALS (ASX:ALQ) and IDP Education (ASX:IEL).
Asian markets
Japan’s Nikkei has gained 0.74 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.11 per cent.
China’s Shanghai Composite has gained 0.66 per cent.
Company news
Building upon a 20-year commercial foundation, Capricorn Society has selected Spenda (ASX:SPX) as its preferred supplier to deliver the first phase of its Digital Service Delivery initiative. Spenda’s CEO and MD Adrian Floate, added: “Being selected to work with Capricorn on this significant project shows faith in both in our services and in our ability to deliver to Capricorn’s vision.” Shares closed 8.3 per cent higher at 1.3 cents.
Global luxury online retailer, Cettire (ASX:CTT), provided a trading update, in which sales revenue shot up 122 per cent, versus prior corresponding period. Cettire’s Founder and CEO, Dean Mintz, said: “It is particularly pleasing to see the Company’s localisation strategy is delivering results, with revenue from its emerging markets outpacing the Group.” Shares closed 4.02 per cent higher at $1.79.
Immutep (ASX:IMM) receives positive feedback from FDA regarding the Company’s late-stage clinical development plans for its first-in-class soluble LAG-3 protein. Immutep CEO, Marc Voigt, commented: “this meeting with the FDA is a critical step in our late-stage development process for 1st line non-small cell lung cancer.” Shares closed 2.22 per cent higher at 23 cents.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2,015.10 an ounce.
Iron ore is 5.2 per cent higher at US$108.40 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.55 per cent rise.
Light crude is trading $0.13 higher at US$71.24 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 66.67 US cents.
