Australian shares showed resilience, edging higher on Thursday morning despite concerns about prolonged higher interest rates, with the S&P/ASX 200 up 0.2%. National Australia Bank saw a modest increase despite a decline in cash profit, while Woolworths experienced a significant drop of 3.9% due to lower-than-expected half-year profit. Meanwhile, US sharemarkets had a volatile session, briefly spiking before closing mixed after the Federal Reserve's decision to maintain cash rates and Chairman Jerome Powell's indication of a potential halt in further rate increases.
At 11:30am, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.32 per cent higher at 7,594.30.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 28 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector is Financials, up 1 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Consumer Staples, down 3.09 per cent.
The best-performing large cap is Qube Holdings (ASX:QUB), trading 7.01 per cent higher at $3.51. It is followed by shares in Amcor plc (ASX:AMC) and Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST).
The worst-performing large cap is Woolworths Group (ASX:WOW), trading 5.28 per cent lower at $30.14. It is followed by shares in IGO (ASX:IGO) and Coles Group (ASX:COL).
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2335.20 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 65.18 US cents.
