At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 declined 68.13 points, or 0.93%, to 7,273.29. The broader All Ordinaries fell 69.64 points, or 0.91%, to 7,545.25. For the week, S&P/ASX200 shed 0.5%.
Total 10 of 11 sectors ended lower along with the S&P/ASX 200 Index. Information technology (down 2.84%) was worst performing sector followed by consumer discretionary (down 1.63%), industrials (down 1.22%), healthcare (down 1.06%), financial (down 0.9%), realty (down 0.73%), telecommunication services (down 0.7%), and materials (down 0.61%) sectors. Energy was the best performing sector, gaining +0.08%.
The best performing stocks in the S&P/ASX200 were Viva Energy Group (up 5.08%), NRW Holdings (up 1.97%), Lendlease Group (up 1.83%), Ampol (up 1.46%), and APA Group (up 1.45%), while the bottom performing stocks were CSR (down 6.61%), Webjet (down 5.71%), ZIP Co (down 5.47%), Afterpay (down 4.97%), and Chalice Mining (down 4.8%).
Australian authorities warned on Friday that a three-week lockdown may be extended as Sydney reported its biggest rise in local cases for the year. The 44 cases identified over the past day in Sydney was the worst outcome of the year and highlighted that the situation is getting worse rather than better.
The technology stocks tanked on tracking weak lead from Wall Street peers, with Buy-now-pay-later juggernaut Afterpay down 5.2%.
Travel stocks were lower. Qantas (QAN) fell by 2.7%, Flight Centre (FLT) slumped by 3.8% and Webjet (WEB) dropped by 5.7%.
The energy sector was the lone improver. Viva Energy (VEA) rose by 5.1% after flagging a 35% lift in underlying half year profit.
CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7429, still below levels above $0.755 seen earlier in the week.
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