Shares rebounded on Thursday, breaking a seven-day streak of losses, following Australia's jobless rate rising to 3.8% in March, aligning with market expectations. The S&P/ASX 200 rose by 0.5%, led by a nearly 6% surge in the iron ore price, lifting mining stocks such as Rio Tinto by 1.7%. The materials sector gained 1%, while the technology sector recovered from earlier losses to advance by 1.01%. All four major banks closed positively, with National Australia Bank performing the best. Gold prices rose to $2378 an ounce, while copper and iron ore prices also saw gains. Despite this, Wall Street declined for a fourth consecutive day due to concerns about delayed interest rate cuts.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a rise of 93 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a rise of 20.75 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a rise of 108 points.
The SPI futures are up 24 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector was Information Technology, up 1.01 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Health Care, down 0.47 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was Qantas Airways (ASX:QAN), closing 3.42 per cent higher at $5.74. It was followed by shares in GQG Partners (ASX:GQG) and Atlas Arteria (ASX:ALX).
The worst-performing large cap was Mercury NZ (ASX:MCY), closing 6.04 per cent lower at $5.91. It was followed by shares in ResMed (ASX:RMD) and Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN).
Asian markets
Japan's Nikkei has gained 0.31 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has gained 1.19 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has lost 1.15 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2,394.10 an ounce.
Light crude is trading $0.18 higher at US$82.88 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 64.53 US cents.
