Financial stocks advanced nearly 1% to lead gainers in midday trading Friday amid prospects for another benchmark interest rate hike this year.
Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG) fell almost 2% after its Macquarie Asset Management unit and co-investors agreed to acquire a majority stake in SI Solutions from MidOcean Partners.
On the flip side, materials stocks shed over 4% as the price of copper slid.
BHP Group (ASX:BHP) faces a union-funded class action lawsuit after it required thousands of miners to work on Christmas and Boxing Day holidays at a Queensland mine in 2019. The company's shares declined nearly 5%.