ASX closes lower as real estate leads declines
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The news: The Australian sharemarket has finished lower with real estate and financials weighing heaviest on the market.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX200 fell 0.44% to 7,813.60, recovering from a 1.2% drop during morning trading, with eight out of 11 sectors finishing in red.
The worst performing sector was AREITs, down 1.74%, followed by financials (-0.92%) and consumer discretionary (-0.89%). Having led ASX gains on Wednesday, large real estate stocks Goodman Group (-0.71%), Scentre Group (-3.14%) and Stockland (-2.53%) lowered on Thursday.
Financial services group Netwealth, down 5.03%, was among the worst performing stocks despite reporting $6.7 billion growth in its funds under administration for the March quarter. EML Payments also lost ground, dipping 2.43%, after agreeing to pay $28.8 million to settle all outstanding loan liabilities related to its acquisition of Prepaid Financial Services Group.
Elsewhere, Avita shares took a double-digit tumble after the medical technology company lowered expectations for quarterly and full-year revenue amid slower demand for its spray-on skin repair products.
The best performing sector was energy, which gained 1.21%, followed by materials and consumer staples which rose 0.64% and 0.48% respectively. Energy heavyweights Karoon Energy (4.85%), Woodside Energy (2.07%) and Santos (1.29%) all ended higher.
Meanwhile, on a day that the Australian Bureau of Statistics released new data that showed the mining industry experienced the biggest drop in business turnover in February, the materials segment posted modest gains.
Gold miners led the way, with Gold Road Resources (4.09%) and Emerald Resources (4.05%) ending higher. Northern Star also climbed 2.4%, after lifting its full-year cost guidance amid prevailing cost pressures and a weather-impacted production schedule.
The Australian dollar is lower buying 65.21 US cents.
The context: The US Bureau of Labor Statistics will release producer price index figures for March at 10:30pm AEDT, while the Department of Labor will publish weekly unemployment claims data.
Elsewhere, the European Central Bank will give a press conference at 10:45pm AEDT, which will likely include comments on growth forecasts and interest rates.
