Australia Stocks fall as missile strike shakes sentiment

Australia stock market finished session down on Wednesday, 16 November 2022, registering third day of losing streak, as fear of geopolitical tensions after news of a Russian-made missile strike in Poland.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 19.39 points, or 0.27%, to 7,122.24. The broader All Ordinaries index declined 18.02 points, or 0.25%, to 7,327.39.

Total 8 of 11 sectors ended lower along with the decline in the S&P/ASX 200 Index, with utilities (down 1.5%) sector was worst performer, followed by consumer discretionary (down 1.3%), financials (down 1%), and telecommunication services (down 1%), while energy (up 1.2%) sector outperformed, followed by materials (up 0.7%).

The top performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were NUFARM and SANDFIRE RESOURCES, up 8.9% and 6.7% respectively. The bottom performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were IMUGENE and DE GREY MINING, down 9.5% and 9.2% respectively.

NATO member Poland said on Wednesday that a Russian-made rocket killed two people in eastern Poland near Ukraine, and it summoned Russia's ambassador to Warsaw for an explanation after Moscow denied it was responsible.

US President Joe Biden said the United States and its NATO allies were investigating the blast but early information suggested it may not have been caused by a missile fired from Russia.

Back to home, shares of financials were lower, with so-called big four banks fell between 0.3% and 1.8%.

Shares of materials climbed on tracking stronger iron ore prices. OZ Minerals shares were paused from trading through the session, as expectations brew of another bid from BHP.

Energy stocks were up as oil prices settled higher after news that supply to Hungary via the Druzhba oil pipeline had been temporarily suspended due to a fall in pressure. Woodside Energy rose 1.4%

Nufarm jumped 8.9% after net profit leapt 65% to A$107.4 million for the 2022 financial year. The company declared a final dividend of 6 a share unfranked.

Aristocrat shares fell 5% after the poker machine maker reported full-year normalised profit after tax of A$948.5 million, a 16% increase. Group revenue increased 17.7% to A$5.6 billion.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Australia wage price index (WPI) came in at an annual rate of 3.1%, far shy of the 7.3% pace of consumer price increases for the period, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said on Wednesday. The gap of 4.2 percentage points eclipsed the previous record of 3.6 percentage points set just three months earlier in the June quarter.

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