The Australian sharemarket fell out of the 7000s zone in early trade and snapped its three-day streak of gains. The broader sell-off wiped as much a $41 billion from the market’s books, as red was the dominant colour for the twenty blue-chip companies.
Mining and energy stocks backflipped from yesterday’s commodities-driven rally to weigh on the broader market, as Origin
(ASX:ORG), Santos
(ASX:STO) and Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) all shed over 3 per cent by lunchtime.
Infotech compounded the downward pressure, as EML Payments led the decline following Brexit-induced regulatory concerns with Irish authorities.
At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 1.80 per cent or 127.00 points lower at 6939.00.
The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 130 points.
Economic newsThe Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment has retreated by 4.8 per cent in May from the previous month’s record-high levels, as the Federal Budget failed to satisfy the needs of some consumers and missed the public’s high expectations.
Best and worst performers All sectors are in the red. The sector with the fewest losses is Real Estate Investment Trusts, down 0.82 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Energy, down 2.77 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Appen
(ASX:APX), trading 11.48 per cent higher at $12.53. It is followed by shares in Nuix
(ASX:NXL) and United Malt Group
(ASX:UMG).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is EML Payments
(ASX:EML), trading 37.18 per cent lower at $3.23. It is followed by shares in Perenti Global
(ASX:PRN) and St Barbara
(ASX:SBM).
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at US$1868.84 an ounce.
Iron ore is 3.10 per cent higher at US$224.44 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 0.70 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 77.86 US cents.
