Afternoon update: Aus shares up 0.43%, Liontown soars on revised takeover bid

The S&P/ASX 200 is trading 0.43 per cent higher at 7,309.30.

Futures

The SPI futures are up 45 points.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector is Materials, up 1.85 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Utilities, down 0.75 per cent.

The best-performing large cap is Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR), trading 8.78 per cent higher at $2.85, after announcing a revised proposal takeover bid from Albermarle Corp for $3 in cash per share. It is followed by shares in South32 (ASX:S32) and Allkem (ASX:AKE).

The worst-performing large cap is Harvey Norman Holdings (ASX:HVN), trading 3.4 per cent lower at $3.98. It is followed by shares in Ramsay Health Care (ASX:RHC) and Qantas Airways (ASX:QAN).

Asian markets

Japan's Nikkei has gained 0.48 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has gained 2.55 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has lost 0.02 per cent.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,971.10 an ounce.
Light crude is trading $0.11 higher at US$85.66 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 64.63 US cents.