The Australian sharemarket edged lower in the afternoon session. At the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.2 per cent or 11 points lower at 7,399.
Across the sectors, 5 closed in the red and 5 closed in the green, while financials closed flat. Technology was the worst performer, down 0.5 per cent, followed by industrials, down 0.3 per cent, then consumer discretionary and consumer staples, both down 0.2 per cent. The best-performing sector was energy, up 1.2 per cent.
TechnologyOne
(ASX:TNE) was the biggest laggard, closing 8.6 per cent lower, followed by auto-parts retailer Bapcor
(ASX:BAP), closing 4.8 per cent lower. Both companies launch ASX announcement's yesterday.
Tech stocks weighed, with WiseTech Global
(ASX:WTC) closing 2.7 per cent lower and Altium
(ASX:ALU) closing 1.8 per cent lower.
Energy stocks continued to rally, with Woodside
(ASX:WPL) closing 2.3 per cent higher, Santos
(ASX:STO) closing 2.5 per cent higher and Beach Energy
(ASX:BPT) closing 2.8 per cent higher.
In headlines today, travel booking company Webjet
(ASX:WEB) closed 1.4 per cent higher, following its half-year results.
Local economic newsThe Australian Bureau of Statistics released the construction work data for the third quarter. Total construction work done fell 0.3 per cent to $53,926.2 million.
Building work done fell 0.9 per cent to $30,438.8 million. Engineering work done rose 0.4 per cent to $23,487.5 million.
Company newsPlease join us for Stocks of the Hour
here. Health insurer Nib (ASX: NHF) has acquired a 50 per cent stake in Australian digital health start-up, Midnight Health for $4 million.
Webjet
(ASX:WEB) has taken off after the travel booking company delivered a positive working capital in the first half of the 2022 financial year as high booking volumes return.
Online wagering platform PointsBet
(ASX:PBH) has been awarded a temporary supplier licence by the Virginia Lottery to offer online sports wagering in Virginia.
Pinnacle Investment Management
(ASX:PNI) has completed its $105 million institutional placement to fund a 25 per cent stake in private equity firm Five V Capital.
FuturesThe Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 67 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 8 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 24 points.
The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 14 points when the market next opens.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector was Energy, up 1.2 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Information Technology, down 0.6 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was PolyNovo
(ASX:PNV), closing 3.5 per cent higher at $1.47. It was followed by shares in Lendlease Group
(ASX:LLC) and Beach Energy
(ASX:BPT).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Technology One
(ASX:TNE), closing 8.6 per cent lower at $11.47. It was followed by shares in Pinnacle Investment
(ASX:PNI) and Netwealth Group
(ASX:NWL).
Asian marketsJapan's Nikkei has lost 1.8 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has lost 0.1 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has lost 0.1 per cent.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1794.43 an ounce.
Iron ore is 5.0 per cent higher at US$99.45 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 3.3 per cent.
Light crude is trading $0.26 higher at US$78.76 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 72.10 US cents.
