Australia Market falls from two-week high

The Australian share market finished lower for the first time in five consecutive sessions on Wednesday, 26 May 2021, as investors opted to book recent profit on fears of lockdown in the country second-most populous state after a cluster of COVID-19 cases grew in Victoria.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 fell 22.66 points, or 0.32%, to 7,092.53. The broader All Ordinaries dropped 17.48 points, or 0.24%, to 7,331.58.

Total 6 of 11 S&P/ASX200 sectors ended lower, with the worst performing sector were materials (down 1.15%), healthcare (down 1%), realty (down 0.9%), and energy (down 0.6%), while the best performing sectors were information technology (up 1.1%), telecommunication services (up 0.76%), and utilites (up 0.52%).

The best performing stocks in the S&P/ASX200 were ALS (up 12.83%), Doman Holdings Australia (up 5.26%), Nextdc(up (5.17%), Regis Resources (up 3.92%), and Fletcher Building (up 3.86%), while the worst performing stocks were Kogan.com (down 5.73%), OZ Minerals (down 5.01%), Redbubble (down 4.91%), Eagers Automobile (down 3.76%), and Champion Iron (down 3.67%).

Mining heavyweights Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals shed between 2.1% and 2.4% as the surge across commodity prices has eased amid China's warning against hoarding and speculation.

Energy stocks were lower, as oil prices slipped on worries that a possible return of Iranian supply could cause a glut. Woodside Petroleum and Santos lost around 1%. Beach Energy shed 1.6% and Worley gave up 1.8%.

On the upside, financials inched slightly higher with the 'Big Four' banks gaining between 0.6% and 0.1%.

Shares of gold miners surged as bullion prices scaled a more than four-month peak, helped by a weaker dollar and growing inflation concerns. Evolution Mining, Northern Star Resources and Regis Resources climbed 2-3%.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Australia Construction Work Improves 2.4% In Q1- Australia total construction work climbed a seasonally adjusted 2.4% on quarter in the first three months of 2021, coming in at A$51.975 billion, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday, following the upwardly revised 0.4% increase in the three months prior (originally -0.9%). Building construction was up 2.5% on quarter, while residential building gained 5.1%, non-residential building fell 1.6% and engineering rose 2.2%. On a yearly basis, the value of total construction work fell 1.1%. Building construction was down 1.8% on year, while residential building gained 4.2%, non-residential building fell 10.4% and engineering eased 0.3%.

CURRENCY NEWS: The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 89.751 weaker as compared to levels above 89.7 seen recently. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7777, stronger than levels below $0.772 seen earlier in the week.

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