ASX closes 0.28% lower: Technology, retail and healthcare sectors fall

At the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 Index was 0.28% lower at 7,766.70.

Australian shares fell slightly, driven by declines in the technology, retail and health care sectors, after trending sideways after Wall Street closed for Memorial Day.

However, increases in oil, copper, silver and gold prices boosted miners, offsetting losses.

The Australian dollar rose moderately, while on the ASX the materials sector held steady despite rising gold prices, with notable gains seen in gold mining stocks such as Newmont and Evolution.

In addition, macroeconomic indicators such as Australian retail sales data highlighted challenges in consumer spending due to rising costs of living, prompting consideration of tax cuts and rebates to stimulate demand.

Future

Dow Jones futures point to an increase of 16 points.

S&P 500 futures point to an increase of 5.5 points.

Nasdaq futures point to an increase of 40 points.

SPI futures fell 22 points.

The best and worst performers

The best performing sector was Consumer Staples, up 0.19%. The worst performing sector was the industrial sector, which fell by 1.01%.

The best-performing large-cap company was Yancoal Australia (ASX:YAL), closing 2.34% higher at $6.57. Whitehaven Coal shares followed suit (ASX:WHC) and EBOS Group (ASX:EBO).

Mercury NZ was the worst performing large cap stock (ASX:MCY), closing 4.1% lower at $5.85. Meridian Energy shares followed suit (ASX:MEZ) and Ramsay Health Care (ASX:RHC).

Asian markets

Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.06 percent.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.20%.

China’s Shanghai Composite gained 1.10%.

Goods and the dollar

Gold is trading at $2,349.70 per ounce.

Iron ore is 1.3 percent lower at $119.00 per tonne.

Iron ore futures are pointing to a decline of 0.8%.

Light crude is trading higher by $1.05 to $78.77 a barrel.

One Australian dollar buys 66.62 US cents.