The laggards

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Miners (down 0.5 per cent) and financials (down 0.5 per cent) were the weakest sectors. Iron ore heavyweights Fortescue (down 0.9 per cent), BHP (down 0.9 per cent) and Rio Tinto (down 1.1 per cent) also dragged the index lower along with three out of the four big four banks. The country’s largest bank, CBA, lost 0.6 per cent.

Seven Group Holdings (down 3.8 per cent) was the biggest large-cap decliner, followed by boutique investment firm GQG Partners (down 1.7 per cent) and Pilbara Minerals (down 1.6 per cent).

The lowdown

AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said sharemarkets mostly rose over the last week.

“US shares were buoyed by increasing confidence in Fed rate cuts this year and strength in tech stocks [and] Eurozone shares were boosted by reduced fears about the outcome of the French election,” he said. “Reflecting the positive global lead, Australian shares rose around 0.6 per cent, driven by resources and property shares.”

European stocks rose as key elections held centre stage.

French stocks outperformed, boosting the broader market, as polls showed Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and its allies would fall well short of an absolute majority in Sunday’s French parliamentary election. The UK’s FTSE 100 was up 0.9 per cent, with the Labour Party seen winning elections by a landslide.

The CAC 40 Index rose 0.8 per cent by the close as polling and market research firm, Ifop, said the far-right group was on course to win between 210 and 240 of the 577 seats in the National Assembly, meaning it would lack the 289 lawmakers needed to pass bills easily and push through its agenda.

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”The business will keep growing and never stop,” said Teng “Anthony” Mu, who established Sharetea’s presence in Australia in early 2012, after a long-running legal tussle between Sharetea Australia and the Taiwanese parent company behind the bubble tea brand ended with the local business gaining exclusive and indefinite rights in Australia.

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