An afternoon recovery came crashing down in the last hour of trade as fresh Victoria lockdowns were announced to curb the second wave of COVID-19 infections.
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews announced this afternoon that Melbourne will be re-locked down for six weeks starting from midnight tonight. The lockdowns are a repeat of what we saw in March, with Melbournians ordered to stay home at all times unless shopping for essentials, going to work, or going to the doctor. Limited exercise will also be allowed.
Restaurants, cafes, pubs and bars will go back to takeaway-only or shut completely. School holidays have been extended for one week.
“Every Victorian needs to understand this is not over. It is not something you can pretend and wish away. It is here and it is going to be with us for a very long time,” the Premier said this afternoon.
The announcement came after Victoria recorded 191 new cases today, which is the most seen since the pandemic began. There are currently 772 active COVID-19 cases in Victoria.
As can be expected, the share market tumbled in response. The S&P/ASX 200 index had staged a solid recovery after slipping red at lunchtime, up roughly a per cent at 3:15 pm AEST. By market close, however, the index was red by 0.03 per cent at 6012.9 points.
Our big four banks dived this afternoon, prompting a 0.77 per cent decline in the financials sector. NAB led the losses with a 1.93 per cent fall, while ANZ and Westpac lost 1.62 per cent and 1.57 per cent, respectively. Commonwealth Bank lost 0.25 per cent.
Energy stocks were red before the new lockdown was announced, however, on the back of a lower price of oil. Woodside closed 1.44 per cent lower, Santos 1.71 per cent lower, and Origin Energy 1.84 per cent lower.
Nevertheless, the worst of the declines were kept at bay by our heavily-weighted materials sector. Iron ore giants missed the memo about the afternoon reversal and surged higher, led by Fortescue’s 6.32 per cent win. BHP gained 1.26 per cent and Rio Tinto gained 0.88 per cent. Gold stocks and iron ore stocks were on the same page for a change, with Newcrest gaining 2.57 per cent, Northern Star gaining 2.5 per cent, and Saracen Mineral Holdings gaining 2.74 per cent.
Across the Pacific, it was mostly red for major Asian indexes after yesterday’s solid performance. The Shanghai Composite was the only index showing back-to-back green when the ASX closed, up by 1.26 per cent. The Asia Dow was 0.61 per cent lower, the Nikkei 225 0.44 per cent lower, and the Hang Seng 0.71 per cent lower.
The Australian dollar is down today, currently worth 69.55 US cents, 55.64 pence, and 11.86 South African Rand.
Today’s ups and downs
Shareholders of AD1 Holdings (ASX:AD1) will be celebrating today despite the new lockdowns after the recruitment tech company extended a managed services agreement with the Victorian government for another three years. Under the contract, AD1 will host and maintain the iworkforNSW careers platform and related digital services for three one-year terms. Shares in the company closed a neat 185.71 per cent higher at four cents per share.
Companies in the firing line of fresh lockdown woes suffered today. Shopping centre stocks Vicinity Centres (ASX:VCN) and Scentre Group (ASX:SGC) each lost between 4.4 per cent and 4.9 per cent. Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) lost 4.02 per cent and Crown Resorts (ASX:CWN) lost 3.58 per cent.