Australian shares were on track to close the second-last session of 2021 slightly higher after thin holiday trading in the US drove a small advance on Wall Street, sufficient to set records for the two main US benchmarks.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index was up 3.2 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 7513 at midday on Thursday. That followed the S&P 500 closing at a record for the 70th time this year, driven by gains in the health and tech sectors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose for a sixth consecutive session, its longest winning streak since mid-March.
While local shares edged slightly higher at the open, they quickly lost momentum through the morning, sliding into the red before staging a rally just before midday.
The major miners led the market gains despite the price of iron ore declining slightly as demand dipped into the end of the year.
The major miners were also up; BHP Group advanced 1.6 per cent to $42.00, Rio Tinto 1.2 per cent to $99.97 and Fortescue Metals Group 0.2 per cent to $19.32.
Smaller mining stocks were also supporting the gains. Pilbara Minerals was up 2.5 per cent to $3.25, Champion Iron firmed 2.1 per cent to $5.50 and Mineral Resources added 1.7 per cent to $57.17.
Sandfire Resources was trading 1.1 per cent higher at $6.66. Spanish authorities approved the $US1.9 billion acquisition of the MATSA Mining Complex. The transaction is set to be completed on or around January 31, 2022.
Health and real estate stocks led the declines in morning trading.
Imugene slid 4 per cent to 41.8¢, Healius dropped 3.5 per cent to $5.33 and Mesoblast was trading 1.8 per cent lower at $1.36.
Abacus Property Group fell 2.7 per cent to $3.81, Dexus 2.6 per cent to $11.09, Cromwell Property Group 2.6 per cent to 87.2¢ and Charter Hall Retail REIT 2.8 per cent to $4.29.
Alumina shares fell 0.5 per cent higher to $1.89. US-listed Alcoa is set to halt primary aluminium production at its plant in Spain for two years, the latest casualty of soaring energy prices in Europe. Alumina holds a 40 per cent share in Alcoa World Alumina & Chemicals (AWAC) along with Alcoa.
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