By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 moved 14.40 points or 0.19% to 7,583.60 higher after the first hour of trade on Thursday, as market participants monitored a mixed session among U.S. equities overnight as corporate earnings heat up.
ASX 200 Futures were pointing 0.2% lower.
Among stocks, Industrials gained 1.3% overall, as Transurban Group (ASX:TCL) lifted 0.2%, while Brambles Ltd (ASX:BXB) surged 7.2% after releasing a trading update.
Energy companies also gained 1.2% collectively, as Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX:WPL) added 1.6%, Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) gained 2.1% and Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX:VEA) lifted 2.1%. Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) gained 1% after the company said in an update on Thursday increased sales revenue 25 per cent over the March quarter, as “stronger commodity prices combined with higher sales volumes delivered record quarterly sales revenue.”
Financials were about 1% higher, with Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) adding 1.3%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) up 0.7%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) gaining 0.6% and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) lifting 1%.
Meanwhile, Information Technology slumped 2.4%, with Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) down 6.8%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) down 0.6%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) falling 2.3%, Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) down 2.1%, while Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) shed 14.6% after issuing a trading update. Zip Co Ltd (ASX:Z1P) also fell 3.6% as credit losses increased to outside the target range, prompting the company to tighten risk settings on lending.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year yields were at 3.052% while United States 10-Year rates were at 2.889%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 was little changed at 11,963.