Oil held gains near $US83 a barrel as hostilities between Ukraine and Russia over the weekend, including an attack on a Russian vessel and the potential threat to commodity exports via the Black Sea, raised concerns about the flow of crude and grains, impacting global markets and leading to a sixth weekly gain and the erasure of year-to-date losses for oil futures.
At the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.22 per cent lower at 7,309.20.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a rise of 97 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a rise of 16.5 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a rise of 76.25 points.
The SPI futures are down 15 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector was REITs, up 0.54 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Health Care, down 1.08 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS), closing 3.81 per cent higher at $5.18. It was followed by shares in Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC) and Allkem (ASX:AKE).
The worst-performing large cap was ResMed (ASX:RMD), closing 4.23 per cent lower at $29.40. It was followed by shares in Suncorp Group (ASX:SUN) and QBE Insurance Group (ASX:QBE).
Asian markets
Japan’s Nikkei has gained 0.19 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.18 per cent.
China’s Shanghai Composite has lost 0.36 per cent.
Company news
Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) announced a substantial increase in Mineral Resource at its Pilgangoora Operation in WA, reinforcing its position as one of the world’s largest hard-rock lithium operations. In response, Managing Director and CEO, Dale Henderson, said: “We have added 109Mt of additional Mineral Resource at a direct exploration cost of only 13 cents per tonne of additional resource.” Shares closed 3.81 per cent higher at $5.18.
Lithium Australia (ASX:LIT) has entered an agreement with Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) relating to their disruptive lithium extraction technology. In response, CEO Simon Linge commented, “We are excited by the future opportunity to licence our proven high value technology to all existing and new lithium mines across Australia and the rest of the world.” Shares closed 63.6 per cent higher at 5.4 cents.
Liontown Resources Limited (ASX:LTR) will provide a strategy and Kathleen Valley Project update at the Diggers and Dealers Mining Forum today. This will include progress towards production, DSO project, and government funding support. Shares closed flat at $2.74.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$1,971.30 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 65.73 US cents.