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The ASX200 has closed the day down 0.15 per cent at 7724 points.
Most sectors fell into the red, but it was consumer discretionary and staples that both lost more than a per cent.
Healthcare was the strongest today, gaining a per cent, with materials also up 0.56 of a per cent.
In the Green
Alara Resources (ASX:AUQ) traded up more than 40 per cent during the session after completing commissioning of the Al washi-hi Majaza copper-gold mine and beginning production from its copper concentrate plant in Oman.
Alara has a 51 per cent interest in the operations with joint venture with Al-Hadeetha Resources.
The company expects to ship the first 1,000 dry metric tonnes next month to global commodities company, Trafigura.
AUQ closed the day at 5 cents.
Smart Parking (ASX:SPZ) is up 15 per cent after acquiring the 126 parking management assets of Local Parking Security (LPS) – a UK company using a mix of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology and manual operations – in a $5.8 million deal.
SPZ closed the day at 48 cents.
And, 29Metals (ASX:29M) has gained more than 5.5 per cent after appointing James Palmer as the company’s new CEO, from the start of May.
Mr Palmer has with 25 years of experience and joins from BHP, where he served as group performance & improvement officer.
He replaces Peter Albert, who is retiring as managing director & CEO.
29M closed the day at 37.5 cents.
In the Red
Meanwhile, consumer discretionary stocks struggled, taking Toys’R’US ANZ (ASX:TOY) down more than 8 per cent, while ecommerce play Harris Technology Group (ASX:HT8) had an even tougher day, shedding 16 per cent, also on no market news.
Lithium-focused Wildcat Resources (ASX:WC8) shed more than 8 per cent on drill results at the Tabba Tabba project in Western Australia.
The best results from the Leia pegmatite include 119.2 metres at 1 per cent lithium oxide, but from a depth of 334.3 metres.
WC8 closed at 71 cents.
And NickelSearch (ASX:NIS) dipped 5.5 per cent on an update from its Carlingup Project in Western Australia.
Fourteen lithium drill targets were identified, using soil sampling results and re-assaying of historical drilling.
While the re-assaying showed lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) readings, investors did not seem impressed.
NIS closed the day at 3.4 cents.
