The Australian sharemarket snapped its three-day winning streak after Friday’s session swam in negative territory. All sectors closed lower with technology leading the declines, except materials which closed a tough higher.
Technology stocks crumbled as payment giant Block
(ASX:SQ2) fell 6.5 per cent to $147.82, while Zip Co
(ASX:Z1P) dropped 7 per cent to $2.86.
Beach Energy
(ASX:BPT) led energy stocks lower, down 1.7 per cent to $1.49, followed by Woodside Petroleum
(ASX:WPL) down 0.2 per cent to $26.47 and Santos
(ASX:STO) down 0.1 per cent to $7.42.
Major banks were mixed with Commonwealth
(ASX:CBA) down 2.2 per cent to $98.55 and Macquarie Group
(ASX:MQG) down 0.06 per cent to $193.28. While Westpac
(ASX:WBC) added 0.7 per cent to $22.78, National Australia Bank
(ASX:NAB) lifted 0.6 per cent to $29.84 and ANZ Bank
(ASX:ANZ) closed 0.4 per cent higher at $27.82.
Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) led iron ore players higher, closing 2.9 per cent higher at $122.36. Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) rose 2.5 per cent to $22.83 and BHP
(ASX:BHP) added 1.2 per cent to $48.86.
Gold stocks closed lower as Northern Star
(ASX:NST) declined 1.6 per cent to $8.50, Evolution Mining
(ASX:EVN) fell 1.3 per cent to $3.67 and Newcrest Mining
(ASX:NCM) closed 0.09 per cent lower at $22.72.
Elsewhere, Unibail-Rodamco Westfield
(ASX:URW) has agreed to sell a 45 per cent stake in Westfield Carré Sénart, plus provide asset and property management services under a joint venture with Societe Generale Assurances and BNP Paribas Cardif. Shares rose 6.8 per cent to $5.62 as the best-performing stock.
Baby Bunting's
(ASX:BBN) after tax profit rose 12.2 per cent to $8.1 million, coming in below expectations of $11 million for the first half of financial year 2022. The company posted sales of $239.1 million, up 10 per cent from the same time the year before. They also unveiled an interim fully franked dividend of 6.6 cents. The baby goods retailer benefited from stores remaining open during the period and strong inventory. Shares fell 3.1 per cent to $5.26.
At the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 was almost 1 per cent or 71.2 points lower at 7217.3.
Over the week, the ASX closed 1.4 per cent higher.
Company newsInsurance Australia Group’s
(ASX:IAG) first half profit after tax returned to profit posting a gain of $173 million, after its $462 million loss a year ago. Shares closed 4.2 per cent lower at $4.74.
Building material company Boral
(ASX:BLD) has completed the sale of its North American Fly Ash business to Eco Material Technologies for $1.05 billion. Shares closed 3.6 per cent lower at $3.79.
Conglomerate giant Wesfarmers
(ASX:WES) is another step closer to acquiring Australian Pharmaceutical Industries
(ASX:API) after the competition regulator gave it the tick of approval. Shares in Wesfarmers fell 1 per cent to $52.87, while shares in Australian Pharmaceutical Industries lifted 0.3 per cent to $1.52.
IPO'sMy Rewards International
(ASX:MRI) listed on the ASX today. Their shares issued at 20 cents, started trading at 11.5 cents and closed at 13 cents.
SensOre
(ASX:S3N) listed on the ASX today. Their shares issued at 85 cents, started trading at 84.5 cents and closed at 73 cents.
FuturesThe Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 214.00 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 33.25 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 127.50 points.
The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 65 points when the market next opens.
Wall StreetOver the last four trading days, the Dow Jones gained 0.4 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.1 per cent and the Nasdaq gained 0.6 per cent.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector was Materials, up 0.3 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Information Technology, down 3.8 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
(ASX:URW), closing 6.5 per cent higher at $5.60. It was followed by shares in Insurance Australia Group
(ASX:IAG) and Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was IDP Education
(ASX:IEL), closing 8.1 per cent lower at $28.53. It was followed by shares in Telix Pharmaceutical
(ASX:TLX) and Zip Co
(ASX:Z1P).
Asian marketsJapan's Nikkei is closed for a public holiday.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has lost 0.33 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has gained 0.12 per cent.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1825.39 an ounce.
Iron ore is 4.8 per cent higher at US$153.75 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 3.55 per cent.
Light crude is trading $0.28 lower at US$88.28 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 71.23 US cents.
