Market Wrap / lithium leaps

The S&P/ASX 200 closed marginally lower by 8.4 points to 8,550.8 points this Thursday, with gains in heavyweight financials offsetting weakness in tech.

 There was a late rally in lithium players, amid news Vanguard increased its stake in PLS to 5.25%. PLS shares rose 5.6%. CBA extended its recent rally, however sold off at the close to be down 0.4% to $190.71.And Neuren Pharmaceuticals surged 6.1% after securing a new US patent and boosting investor confidence.In contrast, tech stocks weighed negatively. Xero shares slumped 5.3% following a discounted $1.85 billion placement to fund its acquisition of Melio in the US.And Pointsbet was still in the spotlight, down 1.3% with Mixi returning with an all-cash $1.20 per share takeover offer. It comes after Pointsbet confirmed rival bidder betr claims that its proxy votes were excluded from the final count. betr shares gained 1.8% while Computershare, which took blame for the bungle, was down 1.4%.Attention now turns to the US, with GDP and trade data due overnight.