Australia Market ends softer

Headline indices of the Australia market closed down after fluctuating between gains and losses on Thursday, 20 September 2018, amid lingering concerns about U.S.-China trade tensions. Among ASX issues, weakness in supermarkets, banks and energy stocks overshadowed gains in materials and resources counters. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed down 20.46 points, or 0.33%, at 6,169.50 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index was 20.20 points, or 0.32%, higher at 6,276.80 points.

Shares in banks and financial players were down, with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac Banking Corp were down in a range of 0.4% to 1%.

Consumer staples were also in the red, with Woolworths shares down 1.4 per cent to A$27.30 after the company announced that it would be introducing a milk price levy, lifting the three litre house brand milk from A$3.00 to A$3.30 until mid-October in order to assist drought ravaged farmers. Wesfarmers closed 1.9 per cent lower at A$49.75 after Coles' owner announced it would be matching the price increase on its own three litre house brand milk.

Shares of materials and resources inclined, supported by overnight gains in copper and gold prices. Copper jumped to its highest in three weeks on Wednesday, boosted by a weaker dollar. Prices for Chinese construction steel rebar rose on Wednesday after the Chinese government said it would boost spending on infrastructure. Global miner BHP Billiton was up 1.1%, while Rio Tinto surged 3.6% after the company announced a A$3.2 billion share-buyback following the recent sale of some Australian coal assets. BlueScope Steel was up 0.5%, Northern Star 6.2%, and Newcrest Mining 1.4%.

Energy stocks declined on profit taking, despite crude oil prices rising to a more than two-month high overnight. WTI crude for October delivery advanced $1.27 or 1.8% to $71.12 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Woodside Petroleum, Oil Search, and Santos were down in a range of 0.3% to 1%.

CURRENCY: Australian Dollar inclined against greenback and other major currencies on Thursday. The Australian dollar was buying at $0.7261, up from $0.7249 on Wednesday.

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