The Australian share market fell at the open and remained in the red, despite expectations it would rise higher. At the closing bell, the ASX closed 0.3 per cent or 25 points lower at 7,393. Over the week, it closed 0.2 per cent or 2 points lower.
Several big stocks weighed on the index and Technology was the worst performer.
Buy now, pay later provider Afterpay
(ASX:APT) dropped again in the afternoon, closing 5 per cent lower. Zip Co
(ASX:Z1P) closed 4 per cent lower.
Origin Energy
(ASX:ORG) closed 7.8 per cent lower following the release of its Q2 results. Iron ore giant, Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) closed 5 per cent lower.
Energy suppliers Woodside Petroleum
(ASX:WPL) and Santos
(ASX:SHO) closed 0.6 and 1.1 per cent lower.
The Health Care sector was among the decliners. CSL Healthcare
(ASX:CSL) closed 1 per cent lower and Sonic Healthcare
(ASX:SHO) closed 0.6 per cent lower.
Onto banks, NAB
(ASX:NAB) closed 0.7 per cent higher, following news it will buy back $2.5 billion in shares. Commonwealth
(ASX:CBA) closed 0.3 per cent higher, Westpac
(ASX:WBC) closed 0.8 per cent higher and ANZ
(ASX:ANZ) closed flat.
On a positive note, Real Estate Investment Trust was the best-performing sector, up 1.4 per cent at close.
NSW recorded 170 new Covid-19 cases, while Victoria recorded 3 new cases.
Local economic newsThe Australian Bureau of Statistics released their 'Producer prices, Australia' statement. Final demand, excluding exports rose 0.7 per cent for this quarter and 2.2 per cent over the past twelve months.
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Petroleum giant, Ampol
(ASX:ALD) entered into a funding agreement with the Australian renewable energy agency (ARENA) to deliver a national fast charging network to support the uptake of battery electric vehicles in Australia.
National Australia Bank
(ASX:NAB) intends to buyback up to $2.5 billion of its ordinary shares on-market to manage its common equity tier 1 (CET1), towards its target range of 10.75–11.25 per cent.
Online wagering platform PointsBet
(ASX:PBH), successfully completed a $215.1 million placement, supported by institutional investors.
Origin Energy
(ASX:ORG), in its quarterly report, has noted a slight comeback in commodity revenue, despite an overall 35 per cent decline in FY21
The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) has completed the acquisition of a 75 per cent interest in Mataura Valley Milk (MVM), a dairy nutrition business located in Southland, New Zealand.
FuturesThe Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 111 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 34 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 196 points.
The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 29 points when the market next opens.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector was Real Estate Investment Trusts, up 1.4 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Information Technology, down 2.5 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Janus Henderson Group
(ASX:JHG), closing 7.7 per cent higher at $57.76. It was followed by shares in Waypoint REIT
(ASX:WPR) and IGO
(ASX:IGO).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Redbubble
(ASX:RBL), closing 11.2 per cent lower at $3.24. It was followed by shares in Origin Energy
(ASX:ORG) and Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals
(ASX:CUV).
Asian marketsJapan's Nikkei has lost 1.7 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has lost 2.3 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has lost 0.7 per cent.
Wall StreetOver the last four trading days, the Dow Jones gained 0.1 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.2 per cent and the Nasdaq lost 0.4 per cent.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1827.56 an ounce.
Iron ore is 3.3 per cent lower at US$196.06 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 8 per cent.
Light crude is trading $0.58 lower at US$73.04 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 73.82 US cents.
