Daily Market Update

A significant rally in the utilities sector, which gained 4.8 per cent on Wednesday on the back of a renewed bid for Origin Energy (ASX:ORG) wasn’t enough to offset the selling pressure. The S&P/ASX200 fell by 0.3 per cent with the consumer discretionary sector among the largest detractors. News the Origin suitors Brookfield and EIG…

The S&P/ASX200 weakened a further 0.2 per cent on Tuesday, with little in the way of a lead from US markets. The materials and energy sectors stood out, gaining 0.4 and 0.6 per cent, while each of the technology, communications and staples sectors dropped by more than 1 per cent as reporting season stepped up…

Markets remained mix to open the week, with concerns around the peak in energy prices and the upward march of interest rates pushing both the energy and property sectors down 1 per cent each. Bendigo Bank (ASX:BEN) buoyed the financial sector with a solid profit result, gaining 1.9 per cent and sending the sector 0.9…

The local market finished the week 1.1 per cent lower, as the S&P/ASX200 dropped 0.9 per cent on Friday, marking the third straight week of declines. Earnings season remains as varied as any in recent history, with significant sector and stock level dispersion. Technology and property were the largest detractors on Friday, down 2.3 and…

Australia’s unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 3.7 per cent in January, from 3.5 per cent in December, after 11,500 people lost work, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics  (ABS). Economists had expected the unemployment rate to hold at 3.5 per cent and 20,000 job gains. Counter-intuitively to many, the share market liked the figure,…

Assessing profit results is the main game on the Australian market at present, and the upshot of Wednesday’s action was the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 giving up 78.7 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 7,352.2, while the broader All Ordinaries index retreated 69.5 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 7,559.1. Commonwealth Bank reported a record half-year…

Earnings season and the need to keep a weather eye on the US inflation print competed for influence on the Australian share market on Tuesday. By the close the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 gauge had added 13.1 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 7,430.9, while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 14.1 points, or 0.2 per…

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index eased 15.9 points, or 0.2 per cent, on Monday, to a three-week low of 7,417.8. The broader All Ordinaries fell 16.6 points, also 0.2 per cent, to 7,614.5, as earnings season moved into full swing. Electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi reported an 8.6 per cent lift in sales to $5.3 billion for…

The local market dropped 0.8 per cent on Friday, taking the weekly loss to 1.7 per cent and the lowest level for three weeks. The biggest driver was a heavy retreat in coal stocks after thermal coal prices fell by more than 5 per cent, taking the price per tonne down 50 per cent from…

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 39.8 points, or 0.5 per cent on Thursday to 7490.3; while the broader All Ordinaries index dropped 44.7 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 7695.8. Energy was in the spotlight, with the Mike Cannon-Brookes-backed AGL Energy plunging 82 cents, or 10 per cent, to $7.12 after the company downgraded full-year earnings guidance, cut its dividend and reported…

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Wednesday advanced 26 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 7,530.1, while the broader All Ordinaries closed 27.4 points to the good, also 0.4 per cent, at 7,740.5. Goldminer Newcrest added another 65 cents, or 2.6 per cent, to $25.60, taking its gain to almost 14.5 per cent since it received a $24.5 billion takeover offer from US…

The local sharemarket copped its biggest fall in five weeks on Tuesday after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) delivered a ninth consecutive rate rise, and for good measure, poured cold water on hopes of an imminent pause in its tightening cycle. RBA governor Philip Lowe warned that further increases will be needed in the…