The Australian sharemarket was treading water at midday as investors awaited the next catalyst to help drive the S&P/ASX 200 Index to a fresh peak.
The ASX 200 was up just 1.1 points to 8542.9 by lunchtime after opening up 0.2 per cent with five of the 11 sectors trading higher. The gauge came with 15 points of its record high on Wednesday after Commonwealth Bank topped $300 billion in market value for the first time.
In the US, the S&P 500 finished little changed as investors mulled the latest round of economic data – a surprise contraction in the US non-manufacturing sector for the first time in a year and a slowing of hiring across the private sector.
The data prompted traders to price in at least two rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve this year, which helped drive the Nasdaq higher. The sentiment helped the local tech sector with WiseTech Global was up 1.1 per cent.
Elsewhere, a rally in lithium stocks led the resources sector higher after US government granted American lithium miner Albemarle $US150 million ($230 million) to fund a new lithium processing facility. On the ASX, Mineral Resources jumped 7.5 per cent and Liontown Resources climbed 4 per cent.
Rare earths stock Lynas leapt 8 per cent after major European car makers said China’s rare earths export controls were disrupting its supplier networks.
LTR Price at posting:
64.5¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
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