Real estate stocks advanced 1.2% at midday Friday. An easing in US Treasury yields amid worries over the US fiscal outlook, while US stock futures edged higher.
Sietel (ASX:SSL) reported fiscal first-half earnings of AU$0.0744 per diluted share, down from AU$0.1463 per diluted share a year earlier. Revenue for the six months ended March 31 was AU$7.4 million, compared with AU$8.3 million a year earlier.
Meanwhile, the utilities sector fell 0.6%.
Meridian Energy (ASX:MEZ, NZE:MEL) completed the construction of the Ruakaka battery energy storage system in New Zealand. The system has a maximum output of 100 megawatts of electricity and a storage capacity of 200 megawatt-hours.