The industrials sector advanced 1.9% at midday Thursday, after the shares of sector bellwether Transurban Group (ASX:TCL) rose over 1%.

Transurban will cut 300 jobs to save over AU$50 million in annualized savings. A part of these savings will be re-allocated to areas of customer-facing and operational technologies.

On the flip side, the financial sector struggled, falling almost 1%. The US Federal Reserve kept the policy rate steady, as expected, and warned that uncertainty about the economic outlook has increased.

ANZ Group Holdings (ASX:ANZ, NZE:ANZ) reported that its cash earnings per diluted share in the fiscal first half rose to AU$1.17 from AU$1.16 a year earlier. On a statutory basis, diluted EPS was AU$1.193, compared with AU$1.12 a year earlier. The board declared an interim dividend of AU$0.83 per share, unchanged from the previously reported period.