Australia Market falls 0.53%

Australia stock market finished session lower on Thursday, 09 February 2023, as investors opted to book some profit made in the previous session on tracking negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with shares in utilities, realty, and materials leading the retreat.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 39.77 points, or 0.53%, to 7,490.30. The broader All Ordinaries index fell 44.69 points, or 0.58%, to 7,695.80.

All 11 sectors ended lower along with the S&P/ASX 200 Index. Utilities was worst performing sector, erasing 2.73%, followed by A-REIT (down 1.63%), information technology (down 1.13%), and consumer staples (down 0.83%) sectors.

The top performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were DE GREY MINING and IDP EDUCATION, up 12.78% and 7.69% respectively. The bottom performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were AGL ENERGY. and CORONADO GLOBAL RESOURCES INC., down 10.33% and 6.05% respectively.

Utilities stocks declined the most on the index, as results from AGL were very disappointing and below expectations. AGL Energy was down 9.6%, as it posted a loss of more than $1 billion for the December half and a 55% slump in underlying profit. For the six months ended Dec. 31, AGL reported underlying profit after tax attributable of A$87 million, below A$194 million a year earlier. On a statutory basis, AGL reported loss attributable of A$1.08 billion compared with a profit of A$555 million last year, having incurred a A$706 million impairment charge from bringing forward the closure of its Loy Yang A coal power station by 10 years.

Shares of materials and resources were also lower. Coal miners Whitehaven Coal and New Hope Corporation fell 5.6% and 4.4%, respectively.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday that the total number of building permits issued in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 18.5% on month to 16,556 in December, following the 8.8% drop in November. On a yearly basis, overall permits lost 3.8%.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar was stood at 0.6959 against greenback on Thursday, up by 0.51% from previous trading day closure at 0.6924 after trading in the range of 0.6922-0.6965.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News