ASX falls ahead of RBA decision
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The news: The Australian sharemarket ended lower ahead of the Reserve Bank’s next monetary policy decision.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.31% to end at 7,700.3, with six out of 11 sectors finishing in red.
The worst performing sector was IT, down 1.5%, followed by energy (-1.49%) and materials (-1.08%). Energy majors fell after oil prices reversed gains last week following fresh economic data from the US and China. Santos (-1.34%), Woodside Energy (-1.03%), Beach Energy (-1.57%), Ampol (-1.69%), Karoon Energy (-1.49%) and Viva Energy (-0.31%) all declined.
Bapcor shares slipped 2.4% despite the troubled auto parts retailer successfully refinancing $200 million of debt and permanently appointing George Saoud as its CFO.
Meanwhile, Integral Diagnostics dropped 4.33% after announcing a proposed merger with Capitol Health. However, Capitol Health soared 10.2% on the news.
The best performing sector was telecommunication services, up 0.68%, followed by healthcare (0.38%) and financials (0.3%).
Shares in Life360 gained 2.85% after Goldman Sachs exercised its over-allotment option to sell an additional 862,500 shares.
Elsewhere, Tabcorp finished 1.53% higher after it appointed former AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan as its new CEO.
The Australian dollar is lower, buying 65.94 US cents.
The context: All eyes will be on the RBA on Tuesday as it makes its next interest rate decision. It is expected to leave rates unchanged as inflation remains high.
The NSW budget will also be delivered by NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey.
