The Australian sharemarket surged by 1.4 percent following the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to maintain the cash rate, resulting in gains across all 11 sectors, with the S&P/ASX 200 Index climbing to 7793.3 points at closing. Additionally, the All Ordinaries index saw a similar increase of 1.4 percent. AGL Energy notably stood out with a 7.4 percent jump after revising its profit guidance for FY2024, while technology stocks also saw gains, and energy stocks benefited from higher oil prices driven by tensions in the Middle East.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a rise of 12 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a rise of 0.75 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 13 points.
The SPI futures are up 117 points.
Best and worst performers
All sectors are in the black. The best-performing sector was Utilities, up 2.82 per cent. The sector with the fewest gains was Consumer Staples, up 1.02 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was AGL Energy (ASX:AGL), closing 7.4 per cent higher at $10.01. It was followed by shares in Mercury NZ (ASX:MCY) and Medibank Private (ASX:MPL).
The worst-performing large cap was Spark New Zealand (ASX:SPK), closing 1.23 per cent lower at $4.02. It was followed by shares in IGO (ASX:IGO) and TPG Telecom (ASX:TPG).
Asian markets
Japan's Nikkei has gained 1.57 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has lost 0.55 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has gained 1.19 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2,328.70 an ounce.
Iron ore is 2.7 per cent higher at US$120.20 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.3 per cent fall.
Light crude is trading $0.12 higher at US$78.60 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 65.88 US cents.
