At the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.02 per cent higher at 7,325.00.
The markets experienced a slowdown in momentum as a result of strong employment data, which led traders to increase their expectations of another interest rate hike by the Reserve Bank on August 1.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a rise of 2 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 5 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 58 points.
The SPI futures are flat.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector was Financials, up 0.4 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Health Care, down 0.49 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN), closing 5.16 per cent higher at $75.78. It was followed by shares in Mercury NZ (ASX:MCY) and Meridian Energy (ASX:MEZ).
The worst-performing large cap was Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST), closing 6.59 per cent lower at $11.76. It was followed by shares in Yancoal Australia (ASX:YAL) and Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC).
Asian markets
Japan’s Nikkei has lost 1.23 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has gained 0.32 per cent.
China’s Shanghai Composite has gained 0.03 per cent.
Company news
NOVONIX (NASDAQ:NVX, ASX:NVX) announced that its Battery Technology Solutions division successfully completed the commissioning of its 10 tonnes per annum cathode pilot line. In response, Dr. Chris Burns, CEO of NOVONIX, noted, “This capability places us in a unique position to serve the nickel-based cathode material market, which we and industry experts believe will require over 3 million tonnes per annum and represent an over $100B market opportunity by 2030.” Shares closed 2.43 per cent lower at $1.01.
BPH Global Ltd (ASX:BP8) announces that they are in China for a series of commercial meetings and prospective cornerstone investor meetings over a 3-4 week period commencing this week. These include wide and deep engagements with potential China-based cornerstone investors. Shares closed 20 per cent lower at 0.2 cents.
AML3D (ASX:AL3) announced the sale of an industrial-scale ARCEMY® metal 3D printing system to be located at the US Navy’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE) in Danville, Va. AML3D Interim CEO Sean Ebert said: “We are extremely pleased the US Navy has purchased this ARCEMY® ‘X-Edition 6700’ system, demonstrating their confidence in our technology and is a validation of our strategic focus on delivering ARCEMY® systems to the US maritime and defence industries. Shares closed 5.6 per cent higher at 5.7 cents.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$1,982.60 an ounce.
Iron ore is 1.6 per cent lower at US$114.00 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 1.97 per cent rise.
Light crude is trading $0.01 higher at US$75.36 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 68.09 US cents.