At 11:30am, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.05 per cent lower at 7,827.60, due to declines in mining and property stocks, despite earlier gains in the week. Saudi Aramco refuted reports of considering a bid for Santos, causing Santos shares to dip by 0.8% to $7.93. Meanwhile, the Australian dollar reached its highest level since January 2 on speculation of potential interest rate hikes by the Reserve Bank of Australia in 2024.
The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 2 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector is Health Care, up 0.39 per cent. The worst-performing sector is REITs, down 0.38 per cent.
The best-performing large cap is Yancoal Australia (ASX:YAL), trading 1.38 per cent higher at $7.36. It is followed by shares in BlueScope Steel (ASX:BSL) and Aristocrat Leisure (ASX:ALL).
The worst-performing large cap is Seven Group Holdings (ASX:SVW), trading 4.07 per cent lower at $36.05. It is followed by shares in GQG Partners (ASX:GQG) and EBOS Group (ASX:EBO).
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2366.40 an ounce.
Iron ore is 0.4 per cent higher at US$114.00 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.9 per cent fall.
One Australian dollar is buying 67.32 US cents.
