Australian shares closed slightly lower on Tuesday as declines in James Hardie and Sonic Healthcare offset gains in the tech sector following a Nasdaq high. The S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.2% to 7851.7, nearing but not reaching its previous record close of 7896.4 in March. Communications services led sectoral losses, with Telstra notably dropping 2.7% to $3.57, its lowest close since 2021, after announcing job cuts and changes to mobile plan pricing.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a rise of 8 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a rise of 1.5 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 11.75 points.
The SPI futures are down 7 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector was Information Technology, up 0.72 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Communication Services, down 1.05 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was ALS (ASX:ALQ), closing 5 per cent higher at $14.48. It was followed by shares in Technology One (ASX:TNE) and Qantas Airways (ASX:QAN).
The worst-performing large cap was James Hardie Industries (ASX:JHX), closing 14.79 per cent lower at $46.67. It was followed by shares in Sonic Healthcare (ASX:SHL) and Infratil (ASX:IFT).
Asian markets
Japan’s Nikkei has lost 0.31 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 2.08 per cent.
China’s Shanghai Composite has gained 0.65 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2,417.80 an ounce.
Iron ore is 0.4 per cent higher at US$118.50 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.27 per cent rise.
Light crude is trading $0.58 lower at US$79.22 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 66.59 US cents.