Australia Market falls 0.45% as utilities weigh

Australia stock market finished session with losses on Monday, 12 December 2022, as risk sentiments turned downbeat on following a choppy day of trading on Wall Street on Friday after hotter-than-expected inflation data fanned worries about prolonged interest rate hikes in the US. Market losses led by utilities following the federal government's intervention in the gas market.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 32.38 points, or 0.45%, to 7,180.80. The broader All Ordinaries index fell 35.70 points, or 0.48%, to 7,370.60.

Total 7 of 11 sectors ended lower along with the S&P/ASX 200 Index. Utilities issue was worst performer, losing 4.3%, followed by materials (down 1.5%) and industrials (down 0.6%). Energy was the best performing sector, gaining 1.2%, followed by A-REIT (up 0.34%).

The top performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were BRAINCHIP HOLDINGS and MEGAPORT, up 9.4% and 4% respectively. The bottom performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were NANOSONICS and ORIGIN ENERGY, down 9.92% and 7.82% respectively.

Shares of utilities sector on the back foot as the Australian government's heavy intervention to try to control retail electricity and gas prices. Last week, the country's National Cabineta regular meeting of federal and state leadersagreed to cap wholesale gas prices at $12 a gigajoule (US$8.15) and coal at $125 a tonne (US$84.85) for a 12-month period. Origin Energy and AGL slumped significantly, down 7.8% and 2.6%, respectively,

Material stocks were also down, with Mineral Resources slipping 2.4% and Fortescue Metals sliding 1.3%.

Shares of Lithium miner Pilbara Minerals bounced back after the lithium industry as a whole spent the past week in the red. Similarly, lithium miner Sayona climbed following an announcement that the company had been awarded their final permit for restart of North American Lithium (NAL) operation in Quebec.

Shares of Tyro Payments has slumped nearly 20% after Westpac ended its talks with the Mike Cannon-Brookes-backed fintech, saying it would not be in the interests of the bank's shareholders to table an offer for the company. Tyro has also rejected a sweetened offer for the company from a consortium led by private equity firm Potentia Capital, which raised its bid to $1.60 a share.

BrainChip Holdings, a commercial producer of neuromorphic AI IP, jumped 9.4% after the company was linked with computing giant Intel.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar was down 0.24% at $0.6778 against greenback after trading in the range of 0.6757-0.6804.

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