ASX ends week subdued
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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished the week lower as investors’ hopes for an US interest rate cut fell as economic data showed a firm labour market.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 finished 1.08% lower at 7,727.6 with all 11 sectors finishing in red.
The worst performing sector was consumer discretionary, down 2.45%, followed by ARIETs (-1.64%) and consumer staples (-1.52%). Wesfarmers was one of the worst ASX 200 performers, down 3.88%, with analysts from Morgan Stanley downgrading the company to ‘underweight’.
Other consumer discretionary companies that also took a hit were The Lottery Corporation (-2.35%), Idp Education (-3.64%) and Flight Centre (-2.1%).
Despite receiving a ratings upgrade to ‘add’ from Morgans, Cleanaway Waste Management fell 0.36%.
The best performing sector was energy, down 0.05%, followed by utilities (-0.3%) and industrials (-0.74%). Energy companies Woodside (0.83%), Santos (0.39%) and Yancoal (0.32%) all gained.
Macquarie analysts hiked their copper forecasts on rising demand and said Sandfire Resources would benefit. The stock rose 1.96%.
Monadelphous Group finished 0.51% higher after securing new contracts worth $120 million.
Elsewhere, Appen gained 2.54% despite leadership receiving a grilling from shareholders demanding answers about the company losing its Google contract as well as its poor share price. Appen noted that it was targeting being cash positive for the early second-half of the financial year.
Meanwhile, HMC Capital is in a trading halt as it announced its proposal to acquire fund manager Payton Capital as part of its strategy to establish a $5 billion private credit platform.
The Australian dollar is lower buying 66 US cents.
The context: Next week will see the Australian Bureau of Statistics release the latest CPI figures which will help the Reserve Bank make its next monetary policy decision.
