ASX falls to lowest since February
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The news: The Australian sharemarket suffered its worst trading day since February as investors tracked Wall Street's fall after strong retail sales figures in the US pushed back interest rate cut expectations.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 ended 1.81% lower to 7,612.5 with every sector finishing in red.
This is the lowest the ASX 200 has closed since 22 February when it closed at 7611.2.
The worst performing sector was consumer discretionary, down 2.39%, followed by utilities (-2.15%) and materials (-1.92%). Large consumer discretionary firms Wesfarmers (-2.07%), Aristocrat Leisure (-2.42%) and The Lottery Corporation (-1.39%) all fell.
The Star was the bottom performer across the ASX 200, down 13.4%, amid the second day of public hearings into the casino’s suitability.
The best performing sector was telecommunication services, down 1.03%, followed by consumer staples (-1.21%) and IT (-1.31%). Both Woolworths (-0.96%) and Coles (-1.05%) finished lower amid the Senate inquiry into supermarket prices.
During today’s hearing, Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci was threatened with prison time by committee chair Greens Senator Nick McKim for not answering questions directly on the company’s return on equity. Coles CEO Leah Weckert was also asked the same question but pointed to figures that were more appropriate to measure supermarket profitability.
Elsewhere, Hub24 shares fell 2.04% despite the company posting record net inflows and hitting $100 billion in funds under administration.
Woodside also dropped 0.92% while its chair Richard Goyder attempted to fend off criticism from some investors and proxy advisors on the company’s climate plan.
Despite early gains during the trading day, Telix Pharmaceuticals ended the day 0.78% lower after announcing it had been granted a fast track designation by the US Food Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an imaging product.
Meanwhile, Macquarie Technology is on a trading halt as it looks to raise $100 million to acquire land and buildings at its Macquarie Park data centre campus.
The Australian dollar is lower buying US64.15 cents.
The context: Wednesday will see Rio Tinto publish its first quarter production report while Treasurer Jim Chalmers will be in Washington DC to attend International Monetary Fund, G20 Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ meetings.
Also in the US, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell is set to speak about economic trends at the Wilson Center’s Washington Forum.
