Australia Market falls on negative offshore lead

Australia stock market finished session lower on Friday, 23 December 2022, snapping two days winning streak, as investors rushed to secure profit made recently on tracking overnight decline on Wall Street amid concerns over the Federal Reserve's continued policy tightening and rising COVID cases in China.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell 44.80 points, or 0.63%, to 7,107.70. The broader All Ordinaries index dropped 47.40 points, or 0.65%, to 7,287.80.

Total 10 of 11 sectors ended lower along with the S&P/ASX 200 Index. information technology was the worst performing sector, falling 1.63%, followed by consumer discretionary (down 1.2%), energy (down 1.1%), and consumer staples (down 1%) sectors. Utilities was the best performing sector, gaining 0.2%.

The top performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were TPG TELECOM and CENTURIA CAPITAL, up 2.7% and 2.3% respectively. The bottom performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were G.U.D. HOLDINGS and SAYONA MINING, down 5.6% and 5% respectively.

Information technology stocks declined on tracking fall of US peers. Accounting software maker Xero was down 1.9% and logistics software outfit WiseTech Global slipped 1.8%.

Material stocks traded down as uncertainty around demand, with Lake Resources down 4.9% and Pilbara Minerals slipping 1.8%. Gold miners continued to decline, with Evolution falling 1.3% and Newcrest sliding 1.5%.

Shares of coal miners slumped, with Yancoal down 3.1%, Woodside sliding 1.3% and Santos down 1.5%.

Utilities stocks closed in positive territory. Infratil closed up 2.4%, while Mercury NZ climbed 2.5% and Meridian jumped 3.1%.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar was stood at 0.6694 against greenback on Friday, up by 0.45% from yesterday's close of 0.666, after trading in the range of 0.6661-0.6699.

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