Fifth losing week out of last six for ASX
Derek Rose |
The local share market has lost ground for a second day in a row, with all sectors lower except energy.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Friday down 53.9 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 6676.8, while the broader All Ordinaries was 48.8 points lower at 6869.9, a drop of 0.71 per cent.
The ASX200 fell 82 points for the week, a loss of 1.2 per cent. That’s its second week of red in a row, fifth losing week out of the past six, and seventh negative week out of the past nine.
“It’s just negative sentiment at the moment – markets just reacting to how long rates are going to be higher, and US equities are feeling the pinch,” said CMC Markets analyst Azeem Sheriff.
“There’s been a lot of lot of data in terms of tech companies restructuring, there’s going to be a lot of job losses coming up – your Amazons, Apples, Teslas, even Twitter as well.”
There wasn’t much going on to explain Friday’s losses, Mr Sheriff told AAP.
“To be honest, there’s not too much macro driving today’s numbers,” he said, other than Federal Reserve officials reiterating their hawkish “higher for longer” stance on interest rates.
The energy sector was up two per cent, as Brent crude remained around $US92 a barrel despite US President Joe Biden’s attempt to lower them.
Woodside gained 2.6 per cent to a nearly two-month high of $35.47, Beach grew 1.9 per cent to $1.585 and Santos climbed 0.9 per cent to $7.60.
Stanmore Resources gained 5.3 per cent to a four-month high $2.76 after the Queensland coalminer announced it was on track to meet its second-half guidance despite the continued wet weather and inflationary cost pressures in the September quarter.
Fellow coalminer New Hope gained 7.7 per cent to an all-time closing high of $7.42, while Whitehaven added 4.6 per cent to $10.49 and Yancoal climbed 5.9 per cent to $5.95.
In the mining sector, the iron ore giants were all down, with BHP falling 0.7 per cent to $38.07, Fortescue retreating 1.0 per cent to $16.36 and Rio Tinto dipping 0.8 per cent to $91.50.
Allkem was down 1.8 per cent to $14.65 despite the lithium miner announcing quarterly production at its facility in northern Argentina was up 17 per cent. But Pilbara added 2.0 per cent to $5.07 and IGO climbed 1.6 per cent to $15.82.
The big four retail banks clawed back a bit of their midday losses, with CBA and NAB both finishing down 1.5 per cent, to $99.28 and $31.40 respectively, ANZ dropping 1.1 per cent to $25.55, and Westpac off 0.8 per cent to $23.73.
Elsewhere in the sector, IAG fell 2.1 per cent to $4.75 as the insurance giant held its annual general meeting.
Chief executive Nick Hawkins told shareholders IAG was continuing to experience inflation and had seen further natural disasters. There’s already been 2000 claims alone from this week’s flooding in NSW and Victoria, he said.
Telix Pharmaceuticals rose 12.7 per cent to $6.76, a day after Australia’s second-largest biotech reported US sales of its prostate cancer imaging agent Illuccix soared 178 per cent to $53 million during the September quarter.
The Australian dollar meanwhile was buying 62.58 US cents, from 62.64 US cents at Thursday’s close.
Looking forward, the next mover for the Australian market will likely be the release of third-quarter Consumer Price Index data on Wednesday, Mr Sheriff said.
“All eyes on CPI – if we do get an uptick in that core CPI, that’s not good for equities or even the Australian market. I guess the million dollar question is, is that CPI going to affect what the RBA is going to do?”
A very significant uptick in inflation could cause the Reserve Bank to revert back to its campaign of 50 basis point rate hikes, rather than stay with the smaller 25 basis point rise from this month.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Friday dropped 53.9 points to 6676.8, a fall of 0.8 per cent.
* The broader All Ordinaries declined 48.8 points, or 0.71 per cent, to 6869.9.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 62.57 US cents, from 62.64 US cents at Thursday’s close
* 94.11 Japanese yen, from 93.93 yen
* 64.07 Euro cents, from 64.01 Euro cents
* 55.98 British pence, from 55.83 pence
* 110.76 NZ cents, from 110.07 NZ cents.
AAP
