The Australian sharemarket fell for a second straight session on Thursday as the major banks and CSL offset a strong performance by the iron ore miners and Afterpay.
The ASX 200 closed 0.3 per cent lower at 7275.3, extending its losses as trading volumes slowed.
There was little help from a mixed Wall Street lead, while local traders also appeared to brush off an improving US futures market.
The ASX fell 0.3 per cent in a lacklustre Thursday session. Credit:Louie Douvis
Miners BHP, Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals, and Mineral Resources all rose on higher iron ore prices, while Afterpays 6.2 per cent jump to $130.50 helped the tech sector outperform.
But there was little else to cheer about at the top of the market, with the big four banks and Macquarie Group all sagging and CSL slumping 2.5 per cent to its fourth straight loss.
Supermarket Woolworths finished 11.2 per cent – or $4.76 – down on Wednesdays close in its first session without its Endeavour Group division of pubs, pokies and drinks, which has been split out as a separate listed company
Endeavour, which traded Thursday on a deferred basis, closed at $6.02, and got as high as $6.60 in its first day on the boards.
IG Markets analyst Kyle Rodda said Thursdays lacklustre Asian session seemed to suggest investors made peace with last weeks shock hawkish pivot by the US Fed.
The market has settled and is now showing a level of comfort with the outlook on policy,Mr Rodda said.
I suppose there is a fear that we are approaching a seasonal low, something where we could see stocks trade flat, and in a risk-off fashion for a couple of months but that depends on what were hearing from the Fed and other central banks.
For now weve returned to some equanimity.
He said the flattening of global yield curves has kicked off an asset reallocation towards growth, as evidenced by gains for the Nasdaq and a host of ASX tech companies.
Alongside Afterpays leap – which came on the back of a new digital card strategy in the US – there were gains for Wisetech Global, which rose 1.7 per cent to $32.28, Appen, which was 2.5 per cert higher at $14.52, and EML Payments, which climbed by 2.2 per cent to $3.79.
Tech has returned as a real driver of strength in the US, and it looks like it has flowed through to our market, Mr Rodda said.
NAB was the worst of the major banks, dropping 1.1 per cent to $26.09.
CSL, meanwhile, has now lost $18.91 from its share price in four days, a drop of 6.2 per cent.
