The ASX had no direction to follow this morning as Wall Street closed for a public holiday yesterday. Left to its own devices, the Aussie share market ended its week of record closes with a slight decline.
The benchmark ASX 200 index took a break from its bull run and retreated 13 points or 0.19 per cent. Still above the elusive 7000-point mark, the index closed at 70066.30 points this afternoon.
Our supermarket giants tried their best to keep the market afloat, but to no avail. Woolworths gained 1.96 per cent, Coles gained 0.26 per cent, and Metcash closed grey. The gains, however, were somewhat offset by Treasury Wine Estate’s 1.59 per cent decline.
Health care was the only other sector to close green with a slight 0.2 per cent incline. Biotech giant CSL managed to gain 0.29 per cent and close at a new all-time high, and Cochlear gained 0.16 per cent.
One of the twin-pillars of our stock market, the finance sector, dragged the market down. Commonwealth was once again the weakest of our big four banks, closing 0.52 per cent red. Meanwhile, ANZ gained 0.08 per cent and Westpac gained 0.20 per cent. NAB was the top pick with a 0.35 per cent gain.
Macquarie Group declined for the first time since reaching a new record high share price last week. The investment banking giant shaved $0.97 off of its share price with a 0.67 per cent decline.
While our big mining stocks were mixed, the materials sector as a whole closed slightly up. BHP lost 0.097 per cent, while Rio Tinto gained 0.24 per cent.
Fortescue Metals had a red open but pulled things back quickly to see another day of green. The iron ore producer’s share price surpassed $12 today for the first time since before the GFC as the company continues to edge towards a new record close.
The Fortescue gain was offset by South32’s 2.40 per cent decline.
The technology sector pulled things lower today with red closes across some of the sector’s biggest players. Xero lost 1.48 per cent, Computershare 0.83 per cent, Altium 1.56 per cent and WiseTech a hefty 3.98 per cent.
Afterpay managed to outperform the rest of the sector, staying steady and gaining 0.97 per cent.
As Wall Street took a break, global markets had a day of red. In Europe, Frankfurt’s DAX was the only major index to see green with a 0.17 per cent rise. London’s Footsie lost 0.30 per cent.
Looking east, Asian markets all sunk lower. When the Australian market closed, the Asia Dow was down 0.80 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.93 per cent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng saw the heaviest decline with a 2.29 per cent loss.
The Aussie dollar is slightly weaker today, currently worth 68.64 US cents and 52.75 pence.
Today’s ups and downs
Gas explorers Warrego Energy (ASX:WGO) and Strike Energy (ASX:STX) both spike over today’s trading session. The companies own a 50/50 joint venture over the West Erregulla gas prospect in the Perth Basin. Warrego announced it is finally opening an office in Perth — over a decade since taking control of West Erregulla — and hiring a gas marketing expert. The news complements Strike’s recently announced quarterly report. Warrego closed 21.05 per cent up, while Strike gained 10.53 per cent.
Travel companies have been damaged by a viral outbreak in China. The deadly Coronavirus has spread from Wulan and has so far taken four lives. 200 cases of infection have so far been reported. Sydney and Auckland Airports dropped three per cent and 1.37 per cent, respectively. Qantas dropped 1.7 per cent, and Webjet lost 3.5 per cent.