After staging a marginal afternoon rebound, the Aussie share market ran out of steam in late-trade and closed ever-so-slightly lower today.
Investors braced for another brutal day as Victoria heads into a new stage of lockdowns amid the ongoing new wave of COVID-19. The benchmark ASX 200 index tumbled over 67 points in early action, but by lunchtime, the market had shaken off the losses and was steadily trading above the grey line.
Nevertheless, the gains were short-lived as our big banking stocks dragged things down. The index ended the day a skinny 0.03 per cent — less than two points — lower at 5926.1 points.
The financials sector suffered a heavy blow for its second day in a row as it declined another 2.13 per cent. The sector is now at its lowest point since June 2 as Commonwealth Bank closed 1.78 per cent lower, Westpac 3.51 per cent lower, NAB 4.08 per cent lower, and ANZ 4.12 per cent lower. Macquarie Group lost 1.12 per cent.
Nevertheless, the materials sector kept the worst of the losses at bay as both iron ore and gold producers cushioned the banking blow. Among our iron ore giants, Fortescue Metals had the best day with a 2.64 per cent gain. BHP gained 1.61 per cent and Rio Tinto gained 0.98 per cent.
Among our gold stocks, Saracen Mineral Holdings had the happiest day as it closed 3.83 per cent up. Newcrest tacked on 1.34 per cent, Northern Star 2.65 per cent, and Evolution Mining 2.88 per cent. Among the top 10 gold producers by market cap, only Ramelius Resources closed red, down by 1.38 per cent.
Health care did its best to help offset the losses, closing 2.25 per cent higher. Biotech giant CSL closed 2.61 per cent higher, while Cochlear gained a neat 4.56 per cent. Fisher and Paykel gained 1.54 per cent, Sonic gained 1.25 per cent, and Ramsay gained 1.08 per cent.
It’s a mixed day across major Asian markets today, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 outperforming and currently up by 2.24 per cent. The Asia Dow is treading water around the grey but currently up 0.3 per cent, while the Hang Seng is down by 0.74 per cent. The Shanghai Composite is 1.41 per cent up.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar is slightly lower this afternoon, currently buying 71.27 US cents, 54.5 pence, and 12.21 South African Rand.
Today’s ups and downs
Online tech retailer Harris Technology Group (ASX:HT8) topped the gainer’s charts today despite a lack of news to explain the buy-up. The company’s last market announcement was its June quarterly report on Tuesday last week in which it revealed a 295 per cent increase in fourth-quarter revenue compared to the same time last year. Whether today’s uptake in shares is simply a delayed response to last week’s news is uncertain, but either way, shareholders will be celebrating. Harris shares closed 80.43 per cent higher at 8.3 cents a pop.
Shares in junior copper-lead-zinc explorer Venture Minerals (ASX:VMS) tumbled today when the company revealed a $6.5 million capital raising plan with news shares priced at 3.1 cents each. Under the plan, $4 million will be pulled in through an institutional investment, with another $1.5 million worth of shares on offer to mum and dad investors in a share purchase plan. The company is allowed to accept up to $1 million in oversubscriptions if it receives them. Shares in VMS closed 21.05 per cent lower at three cents each.