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ASX closes 0.8% higher: Tech sector soars by over 6%

PUBLISHED

2024-02-15

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The technology sector saw a notable surge in stock prices following the announcement of a $9.1 billion takeover bid for Altium, propelling the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index to a 0.8% increase, with technology shares specifically soaring by 6.8%. Conversely, the resources sector witnessed a decline of 0.7% as BHP Group disclosed a $US200 million loss on its West Australian nickel operations and a $US3.5 billion pre-tax impairment, leading to a 1.7% drop in BHP's shares to $45.17, marking a turbulent day in Australian company news on Thursday.

Futures

The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a rise of 5 points.

The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a rise of 0.25 points.

The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 3 points.

The SPI futures are up 57 points.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector was Information Technology, up 6.81 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Energy, down 2.1 per cent.

The best-performing large cap was Altium (ASX:ALU), closing 28.76 per cent higher at $66.00. It was followed by shares in Xero (ASX:XRO) and Wesfarmers (ASX:WES).

The worst-performing large cap was Pro Medicus (ASX:PME), closing 13.04 per cent lower at $94.00. It was followed by shares in IDP Education (ASX:IEL) and Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC).

Asian markets

Japan's Nikkei has gained 0.88 per cent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng has gained 0.25 per cent.

China's Shanghai Composite has gained 1.30 per cent.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$2,004.00 an ounce.

Iron ore is 0.2 per cent higher at US$129.50 a tonne.

Iron ore futures are pointing to a 2.39 per cent rise.

Light crude is trading $0.40 lower at US$76.24 a barrel.

One Australian dollar is buying 64.86 US cents.

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