The Australian sharemarket rallied on Wednesday, with the S&P/ASX 200 Index climbing 0.4% to 7753.7 and the All Ordinaries rising 0.3%, driven by gains in the mining sector following the federal government’s commitment to increase funding for critical minerals. Materials led the charge with a 1.2% increase, buoyed by positive investor sentiment towards companies like BHP, which rose 2.2% amid news of Anglo American’s divestment plan and government support for the critical minerals and hydrogen sectors.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a rise of 16 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a rise of 2.75 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 8.25 points.
The SPI futures are up 27 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector was Materials, up 1.19 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Industrials, down 0.63 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was Pro Medicus (ASX:PME), closing 2.91 per cent higher at $116.46. It was followed by shares in REA Group (ASX:REA) and Insurance Australia Group (ASX:IAG).
The worst-performing large cap was Sonic Healthcare (ASX:SHL), closing 3.37 per cent lower at $26.69. It was followed by shares in Worley (ASX:WOR) and Spark New Zealand (ASX:SPK).
Asian markets
Japan’s Nikkei has gained 0.08 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.22 per cent.
China’s Shanghai Composite has gained 0.75 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2,363.20 an ounce.
Iron ore is 1.9 per cent lower at US$115.05 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.9 per cent fall.
Light crude is trading $0.61 higher at US$78.63 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 66.41 US cents.