The Reserve Bank of Australia has decided to keep the cash rate unchanged at 4.1 percent following its July board meeting.
The RBA also maintained the interest rate paid on exchange settlement balances at 4 percent.
Interest rates have been raised by 4 percentage points since May last year, aiming to achieve a more sustainable balance between supply and demand in the economy.
Given the uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook, the board has chosen to hold interest rates steady this month to assess the impact of previous rate increases and evaluate the future economic conditions.
At the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.42 per cent or 30.3999 points higher at 7,276.50.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 11 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 1.75 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 19.75 points.
The SPI futures are up 23 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector was Energy, up 1.16 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Industrials, down 0.15 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was Meridian Energy (ASX:MEZ), closing 4.23 per cent higher at $5.18. It was followed by shares in Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC) and Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC).
The worst-performing large cap was Mercury NZ (ASX:MCY), closing 4.63 per cent lower at $5.77. It was followed by shares in Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) and Brambles (ASX:BXB).
Asian markets
Japan's Nikkei has lost 0.98 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has lost 0.08 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has gained 0.21 per cent.
Company news
DroneShield (ASX:DRO) has been awarded a contract by a Five Eyes Department of Defence. This is a follow-on two-year R&D contract with a total value of $9.9 million. Oleg Vornik, DroneShield’s CEO, commented, “DroneShield is proud and pleased to continue undertaking multi-year contracts of increasing size with this customer.” Shares are trading 18.9 per cent higher at 26.8 cents.
Nickel X (ASX:NKL) has executed an option to acquire 100 per cent of an advanced nickel and hard rock lithium exploration project in Central Europe. Managing Director Matt Gauci commented: “The projects are exceptionally well located, almost on the doorsteps of 27 lithium battery ‘Gigafactories’ in Europe planned for 2030.” Shares are trading 40.3 per cent higher at 9.4 cents.
QX Resources (ASX:QXR) has acted as the underwriter to the rights issue of Bayrock Resources, and has now secured a 39 per cent interest in issued capital of the company. Executive Chairman Maurice Feilich commented, “Bayrock has received excellent support from its existing shareholder base, and together with QXR’s investment, the company is sufficiently capitalised to deliver further value through ongoing drilling in Sweden.” Shares are trading 20 per cent higher at 2.4 cents.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$1,931.70 an ounce.
Iron ore is 0.9 per cent lower at US$110.55 a tonne.
Light crude is trading $0.25 higher at US$70.04 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 66.70 US cents.
