ASX slides 1.4%, Aussie dollar sheds week's gains

The news: The ASX 200 dropped 1.4% on Thursday to 6,981.60, its lowest level in 10 days, following a wary Wall St session. The Aussie dollar gave up most of its gains since the weekend and is buying 63.0 US cents. Oil prices fell slightly overnight after the US eased sanctions on Venezuelan commodities, but the fuel's uptrend remains intact with West Texas at USD88.18 a barrel and Brent crude fetching USD91.14.

The numbers: All sectors finished in the red including IT stocks (-1.8%), consumer staples (-1.6%), financials (-1.5%), real estate (-1.6%) and industrials (-1.5%). Memory technology provider Weebit Nano surged more than 13% in early trading on a licensing deal, but pared gains by the end of the day, closing 6.8% higher at $3.32.

The context: ASX chair Alan Cameron and representatives from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority and ASIC will give evidence tomorrow at a parliamentary inquiry hearing into ASIC oversight, the takeovers panel and corporations legislation. Cleanaway Waste Management and Worley will both hold AGMs tomorrow morning. US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell is set to speak in New York overnight, with traders and analysts keen to hear how he intends balance sticky inflation with the effect of high interest rates on the country's massive USD33.5 trillion ($53.1 trillion) debt.