Communication services stocks advanced more than 1% at midday Friday.
Telstra Group (ASX:TLS) gained nearly 2% in recent trade despite news that its CEO Vicki Brady will appear before the Senate Environment and Communications References Committee on Friday as part of an inquiry into the Triple Zero service outage.
On the flip side, the materials sector struggled, shedding more than 3%.
BHP Group (ASX:BHP) shares fell past 3% in recent trade following the start of a workers strike at its Port Hedland operations in Western Australia.