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The ASX has ended on a two-day down note, dropping another 0.9% to end New Year’s Eve’s shorter day at 8,159 points. We now goodbye another calendar year, farewelling 2024 and preparing for whatever 2025 may now bring.
Most sectors will be happy to see the back of the profit-taking to end 2024, with only Energy, up 0.47%, and Utilities, up 0.33%, staying in the green.
On the other side, the other nine sectors all dropped into the red; Real Estate shed the most with a 1.76% dive. That loss leader was followed by Communication Services, which lost 1.05% through Tuesday’s trade, and Discretionary, down 1.35%. Consumer Staples stayed closest to par with just a 0.18% dip.
At the same time, the Aussie dollar has stayed low at US62.1c.
There were a smattering of winners on December 31, including energy-focused Woodside (ASX:WDS) and Santos (ASX:STO) which carried the sector higher with slightly minor 0.5% and 0.3% gains respectively.
Overall though, most of the bourse was hit by selling and general losses, including several Discretionary heavyweights like Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) and JB Hi-Fi (ASX:JBH).
Technology stocks were also caught up in the selling with Wisetech Global (ASX:WTC) shaving 1.58% through to close; cloud accountant Xero (ASX:XRO) also seemed bound for losses but actually logged a slight tick up at +0.7%.
Unsurprising when the ASX sags, the big four were also down: Commonwealth (ASX:CBA), NAB (ASX:NAB), Westpac (ASX:WBC), and ANZ (ASX:ANZ) all lost ground.
How this trading day wrapped up means the ASX’s 2024 calendar season is now in the history books; the Aussie bourse – or rather, the S&P/ASX200 index – made 7.5% excluding dividends and hit a new high on December 3.
That’s Market Close, I’m Isaac McIntyre, and from HotCopper have a wonderful New Year.
