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ASX closes 0.12% higher: Consumer Discretionary outperforms

On Monday, the Australian sharemarket experienced a slight increase, with the S&P/ASX 200 rising by 0.12% to reach 7,652.80 at the close of trading. This uptick was primarily driven by gains in Consumer Discretionary stocks, which surged by 1.1%, led by notable increases in Wesfarmers, Lovisa, and Tabcorp. Despite losses in the energy sector, the overall market managed to advance due to strong performances in select industries amid a wave of corporate earnings reports.

Futures

The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 53 points.

The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 10 points.

The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 40.75 points.

The SPI futures are up 7 points.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector was Consumer Discretionary, up 1.11 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Energy, down 2.12 per cent.

The best-performing large cap was Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS), closing 5.72 per cent higher at $3.88. It was followed by shares in IGO (ASX:IGO) and Suncorp Group (ASX:SUN).

The worst-performing large cap was TPG Telecom (ASX:TPG), closing 8.02 per cent lower at $4.93. It was followed by shares in Santos (ASX:STO) and Endeavour Group (ASX:EDV).

Asian markets

Japan’s Nikkei has gained 0.34 per cent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost -0.58 per cent.

China’s Shanghai Composite has lost -0.44 per cent.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$2,042.10 an ounce.

Iron ore is 0.4 per cent higher at US$121.10 a tonne.

Iron ore futures are pointing to a 2.5 per cent fall.

Light crude is trading $-0.32 lower at US$76.17 a barrel.

One Australian dollar is buying 65.56 US cents.