ASX grinds lower for third straight day
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: The Australian sharemarket finished lower for the third day in a row as early US rate cut bets continued to fade and a lowered likelihood of stimulus in China weighed on commodity demand expectations. The benchmark ASX 200 finished 0.63% lower at 7,346.50 and has lost more than 2% since this time last week. Unemployment held steady in December, at 3.9%. There was a an unexpected sharp dip in net employment, but it didn't fall below September's figures after strong jobs growth in October and November.
The numbers: Only financials and consumer discretionary stocks edged higher, with the other nine sectors all losing ground. Interest rate-sensitive real estate stocks lost more than 2% and materials tracked with commodity prices to sink 1.1%, while energy stocks lost 1.0%.
The Aussie dollar continues to bleed lower and is buying 65.5 US cents, as tempered US rate cut bets drive up the price of US treasury yields and higher risk profiles drive investors towards the safe haven greenback.
The context: US unemployment data comes out overnight, along with Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index data. European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde will participate in another talk at the WEF forum in Davos, this time about uniting Europe's markets.
