After dropping at Monday's open, the Australian sharemarket is in negative territory, with materials and technology stocks heavily weighing on the index. Despite most sectors being in the red, consumer staples are a bright spot.
Regis Resources
(ASX:RRL) has led the market lower, diving 13.8 per cent after lowering its full year production guidance because of a geotechnical incident and other operational challenges.
Heavyweight miners are down with Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) declining 2.1 per cent after announcing it has acquired Williams Advanced Engineering for $310 million. Meanwhile Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) is down 1.3 per cent and BHP
(ASX:BHP) is trading 1 per cent lower.
Lithium stocks have also tumbled with Pilbara Minerals
(ASX:PLS) down 2.5 per cent and Liontown Resources
(ASX:LTR) trading 5.9 per cent lower.
Gold stocks are doing the same with Northern Star
(ASX:NST) trading 3.3 per cent lower, Evolution Mining
(ASX:EVN) trading 2.7 per cent lower and Newcrest Mining
(ASX:NCM) are trading 1.8 per cent lower.
In the tech space, Novonix
(ASX:NVX) and Life 360
(ASX:360) are weighing the most, both down 6 per cent.
Energy stocks are lower with Beach Energy
(ASX:BPT) down 2.3 per cent, Santos
(ASX:STO) down 1.4 per cent and Woodside Petroleum
(ASX:WPL) trading 1.3 per cent lower.
In other company news, furniture company Adairs
(ASX:ADH) has dropped 20.5 per cent to $2.95 after warning the market that its gross margins are being hit by global supply chain increases.
Aristocrat
(ASX:ALL) is down 0.9 per cent to $41.11 after announcing that the rival bidder facing Aristocrat’s bid to buy British gambling software group Playtech has dropped the pin on the deal.
Onto banks, Macquarie
(ASX:MQG) and ANZ Bank
(ASX:ANZ) are both down 1.1 per cent, National Australia Bank
(ASX:NAB) is down 0.8 per cent, Westpac
(ASX:WBC) is trading 0.7 per cent lower and Commonwealth Bank
(ASX:CBA) has dipped 0.03 per cent lower.
At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.7 per cent or 50 points lower at 7,123. The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 26 points.
Local economic news The Markit flash purchasing managers index for January was released with the key data below.
Australia Composite Output Index Jan: 45.3, 5-month low (Dec final: 54.9).
Australia Services Business Activity Index Jan: 45.0, 5-month low (Dec final: 55.1).
Australia Manufacturing Output Index Jan: 47.7, 5-month low (Dec final: 53.6).
Australia Manufacturing PMI Jan: 55.3, 5-month low (Dec final: 57.7).
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector is Real Estate Investment Trusts, up 0.6 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Materials, down 1.8 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Uniti Group
(ASX:UWL), trading 7.7 per cent higher at $4.06. It is followed by shares in REA Group
(ASX:REA) and Goodman Group
(ASX:GMG).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Regis Resources
(ASX:RRL), trading 14.2 per cent lower at $1.80. It is followed by shares in Liontown Resources
(ASX:LTR) and Novonix
(ASX:NVX).
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1834.18 an ounce.
Iron ore is 2.8 per cent higher at US$137.40 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 1.3 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 71.80 US cents.
