End-of-day summary:
The share market rose for the first time this week, but finished off session highs after Woodside Energy and Santos abandoned merger talks and some of the major retailers retreated.
The ASX 200 finished with a gain of 34 points or 0.45% after earlier adding as much as 63 points. The market peaked just after lunch.
Santos slumped 5.84% after merger discussions with larger rival Woodside ended without a deal. Santos said they were unable to identify "sufficient combination benefits" to support the proposed $80 billion merger. Woodside shares rose 0.53%.
Other drags today included Wesfarmers, Telstra and Woolworths. The major bulk metal miners provided much of the index's momentum.
US stocks edged higher overnight in choppy trade. The S&P 500 put on 0.23%.
