Bankers and miners resist downward pressure: Aus shares trading 0.3% higher at noon

25/06/2021 12:00:00

The ASX200 emerged in opening trade and clawed back yesterday’s losses, on the back of strong leads from Wall Street.

Banking and Mining stocks did the heavy lifting in the morning session, as gains by Materials and Financials overpowered a retreat by Healthcare.

All the big four banks were in bullish mode, as ANZ (ASX:ANZ) led the charge and edged 0.8 per cent higher.

Mining heavyweights contradicted slumps in iron ore and gold prices, as BHP (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) climbed 0.7 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively by lunchtime.

The NSW Government has intensified restrictions in four Greater Sydney local government areas including Waverley, Woollahra, Randwick and the City of Sydney.

At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.25 per cent or 18.50 points higher at 7293.80.

The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 23 points.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector is Materials, up 1.13 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Health Care, down 0.89 per cent.

The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN), trading 7.42 per cent higher at $7.67. It is followed by shares in Endeavour (ASX:EDV) and BlueScope Steel (ASX:BSL).

The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC), trading 3.13 per cent lower at $31.27. It is followed by shares in Woolworths Group (ASX:WOW) and Nuix (ASX:NXL).

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1777.78 an ounce.
Iron ore is 1.2 per cent lower at US$213.46 a ton.
Iron ore futures are flat.
One Australian dollar is buying 75.89 US cents. The lockdown-like measures have seemingly not impacted investor appetite for travel stocks, as Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) and Qantas (ASX:QAN) both advanced by midday.