Australia’s benchmark index took a u-turn from yesterday’s record-breaking performance, even though the broader decline showed signs of easing in the afternoon session.
All sectors except for one suffered from sell-offs today, as investors anxiously await tonight’s Federal Budget announcement.
Consumer Staples remained the only sector making headwind in a sea of red, as supermarket giants Woolworths
(ASX:WOW) and Coles
(ASX:COL) bucked the downward trend.
A record-high iron ore price could not overpower the impact of weak leads from Wall Street driven by inflation fears, as the Australian sharemarket relinquished most of yesterday’s gains.
At the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 was 1.06 per cent or 75.80 points lower at 7097.00.
FuturesThe Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 74.00 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 17.25 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 88.75 points.
The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 68 points when the market next opens.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector was Consumer Staples, up 0.27 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Information Technology, down 4.18 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Omni Bridgeway
(ASX:OBL), closing 4.28 per cent higher at $3.90. It was followed by shares in Boral
(ASX:BLD) and Dexus
(ASX:DXS).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Zip Co
(ASX:Z1P), closing 9.14 per cent lower at $6.76. It was followed by shares in Afterpay
(ASX:APT) and Redbubble
(ASX:RBL).
Asian marketsJapan's Nikkei has lost 3.15%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has lost 1.49%.
China's Shanghai Composite has gained 0.59%.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1835.15 an ounce.
Light crude is trading $0.27 lower at US$62.95 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 78.30 US cents.
Iron ore is 8.60 per cent higher at US$230.56 a ton.
