by Peter Milios
At the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.52 per cent higher at 7,236.80.
Nufarm (ASX:NUF) rallied 14.2 per cent to $6.05 after announcing a 7 per cent increase in its half-year underlying net profit after tax.
Xero (ASX:XRO) jumped 8.9 per cent to $102.49 after reporting a 28 per cent growth in revenue to NZ$1.4 billion in the 2023 financial year.
Aristocrat Leisure (ASX:ALL) tumbled 3.1 per cent to $38.04 following the release of its half-year results.
BHP (ASX:BHP) climbed 1.2 per cent to $44.24, driven by higher iron ore prices.
Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) added 1.4 per cent to $109.98, also benefiting from higher iron ore prices.
Fortescue Metals Group (ASX:FMG) rose 1.4 per cent to $20.53, similarly influenced by higher iron ore prices.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 44 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 3 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 2 points.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 31 points when the market next opens.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector was Information Technology, up 2.91 per cent. The worst-performing sector was REITs, down 0.37 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was Xero (ASX:XRO), closing 8.92 per cent higher at $102.49. It was followed by shares in Mercury NZ (ASX:MCY) and Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC).
The worst-performing large cap was Aristocrat Leisure (ASX:ALL), closing 3.06 per cent lower at $38.04. It was followed by shares in Infratil (ASX:IFT) and Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST).
Asian markets
Japan’s Nikkei has gained 1.67 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has gained 0.41 per cent.
China’s Shanghai Composite has gained 1.28 per cent.
Company news
Latin Resources (ASX:LRS) announced that drilling confirms that their Colina deposit has lithium pegmatites extending over 2km. VP of Operations, Tony Greenaway commented: “We will now move some rigs to start testing to expand the deposit through systematic step-out to the southwest.” Shares closed 2.63 per cent lower at 18.5 cents.
European Metals (ASX:EMH, AIM:EMH, OTCQX: EMHXY, ERPNF and EMHLF) announced that the Czech Republic Prime Minister, Petr Fiala, has visited their lithium deposit, Cinovec Project, and looks to enhance cooperation on strategic projects, including Cinovec. Executive Chairman Keith Coughlan said, “These developments highlight the strategic importance of our project to the region and to the broader European Union.” Shares closed 5 per cent higher at 62.5 cents.
Golden Mile Resources’ (ASX:G88) review has identified 3 exciting untested high priority gold targets for drilling at their Gold and Base Metal Project in WA. Shallow broad spaced aircore and historical RAB drilling encountered favourable geology with widespread gold anomalism demonstrating that it is a highly prospective gold setting. Shares closed 11.1 per cent higher at 2 cents.
Immutep (ASX:IMM, NASDAQ:IMMP) was up almost 65 per cent in the US markets overnight after the Company stated that their products achieved robust initial overall survival in first line non-small cell lung cancer patients in Phase 2 trial. Immutep said this immuno-oncology investigational combination, without the use of chemotherapy, led to excellent initial survival results. Shares closed 31.5 per cent higher at 35.5 cents.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$1,980.40 an ounce.
Iron ore is 2.4 per cent higher at US$111.00 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 1.36 per cent rise.
Light crude is trading $0.37 lower at US$72.46 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 66.48 US cents.
