Afternoon update: ASX up 0.6% as Consumer Discretionary leads gains

The S&P/ASX 200 is trading 0.6 per cent higher at 7,082.70.

Futures

The SPI futures are up 44 points.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector is Consumer Discretionary, up 1.1 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Health Care, down 0.02 per cent.

The best-performing large cap is Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC), trading 3 per cent higher at $6.69. It is followed by shares in Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) and NEXTDC (ASX:NXT).

The worst-performing large cap is TPG Telecom (ASX:TPG), trading 1.23 per cent lower at $5.21. It is followed by shares in Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (ASX:BEN) and Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN).

Asian markets

Japan's Nikkei has gained 0.54 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has gained 1.48 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has gained 0.58 per cent.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,874.80 an ounce.
Light crude is trading $0.19 higher at US$86.16 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 64.23 US cents.