ASX falls as materials drag
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The news: The Australian sharemarket has ended lower after a mixed trading day, following a similar session on Wall Street.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.17% to end at 7,816.8, with six out of 11 sectors finishing in red.
The worst performing sector was materials, down 1.2%, followed by utilities (-1.17%) and energy (-0.64%). Oil majors fell as Brent crude prices steadied, after signs of another inventory draw in the US were offset by concerns about Chinese demand and uncertainty over interest rate cuts in the US.
Woodside Energy (-0.39%), Santos (-0.51%) and Ampol (-1.05%) all ended lower, while Karoon Energy added 0.83%.
Meanwhile, Insignia Financial tumbled 6.8% after the wealth manager clarified that it was not aware of any private equity takeover bid for the company. On Tuesday, the stock climbed more than 13%.
Incitec Pivot edged 0.17% lower after it ceased negotiations with Indonesia's state-owned industrial group PT Pupuk Kalimantan Timur over the potential sale of its fertilisers business.
The best performing sector was telecommunication services, up 1.44%, followed by consumer staples (0.25%) and financials (0.21%).
Telstra led telco gains, up 2.15%, after analysts lifted their outlook on the stock, a day after the telco announced price increases for its postpaid and prepaid mobile plans.
Elsewhere, Stockland ended 0.24% higher as it appointed GPT’s former CEO Bob Johnston to its board.
The Australian dollar is higher buying 67.43 US cents.
The context: Overnight will see US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell testify for a second day, this time before the House Financial Services Committee. Today, Powell told Congress that while US inflation "remains above" the 2% soft landing target, it has been improving in recent months and "more good data would strengthen" the case for interest rate cuts.
Thursday will see CBA’s latest household spending insights figures.
