ASX falls as Fed pivot party peaks for now
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: The Australian sharemarket finished lower on Thursday, taking a cue from Wall Street as the rally fuelled by the US Fed's dovish pivot ran out of steam.
The benchmark ASX 200 finished 0.45% lower at 7,504.10 but is still 1.71% higher than a week ago. The All Ordinaries fell 0.47% but is up 1.69% on last Thursday's close.
The numbers: IT and consumer discretionary stocks moved the most, losing 1.6% and 1.1%. Lithium miners fell hard after a few days of gains, with Liontown Resources plunging 8% as it announced a legal stoush with a royalty owner and racked up the worst performance for the ASX 200.
The Aussie dollar has rebounded after rolling over last night and is buying 67.5 US cents. Oil prices fell after a multi-day winning streak, thanks to a lift in US crude stocks and record domestic production. Brent crude futures dropped 0.3% to USD79.48 after running into resistance at the December open price, while West Texas also fell 0.3% to USD74 a barrel.
The context: Quarterly US GDP data will print overnight, along with weekly unemployment claims. The Reserve Bank will release private sector credit figures tomorrow morning. The US Federal Reserve's preferred PCE inflation index will be published after midnight on Friday, with consensus estimates expecting a steady 0.2% growth for November.
