ASX closes marginally up; BlueScope buy; CapVest blocks BGH in Virtus race; IGO ups WSA bid

ASX 200 closes up just 0.1pc. IGO raises Western offer. Virtus backs CapVest's new bid as Takeovers Panel stops BGH on-market purchase. BlueScope's $670m US buy.

Markets are expected to remain volatile after a mixed lead from Wall Street. Picture: Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Monday, April 11. The ASX closed up just 0.1pc. IGO raises Western offer. Virtus backs CapVest's new bid as Takeovers Panel stops BGH on-market purchase. BlueScope's $670m US buy.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 0.1 per cent at 7485.20 after earlier gains of as much as 0.6 per cent in a volatile day of trading.

In the US, the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4 per cent, while the S&P 500 lost 0.3 per cent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed 1.3 per cent lower, weighed down by a surge in US Treasury yields.

Elsewhere, European bourses finished higher and Asian stocks climbed.

Iron ore slid 0.7 per cent to $US155.50 a tonne overnight while US Nymex crude oil jumped 2 per cent to $US97.90 a barrel.

Finally, the Aussie dollar is trading around 74.38 US cents.

Originally published as ASX closes marginally up; BlueScope buy; CapVest blocks BGH in Virtus race; IGO ups WSA bid