Australia Market slides 0.66%

Australia stock market logged second consecutive day of declines on Wednesday, 21 February 2024, on following weak cues from Wall Street overnight, with shares in consumer staples, materials, telecom. And financial companies being notable losers.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell 50.69 points, or 0.66%, to 7,608.36. The broader All Ordinaries index dropped 51.43 points, or 0.65%, to 7,860.04.

Total 7 of 11 sectors were lower along with the S&P/ASX 200 Index. Information Technology was the best performing sector, gaining +2.23%. Consumer staples was the worst performing sector, falling 4.26%, followed by materials (down 1.41%) and telecommunication services (down 1.08%).

 

The top performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were CSR and STRIKE ENERGY, up 17.43% and 11.63% respectively. The bottom performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were CORPORATE TRAVEL MANAGEMENT and WOOLWORTHS GROUP, down 20.15% and 6.61% respectively.

Shares of consumer staple sector suffered heavy losses, weighed down by Woolworths Group, down 9%, after the company reported weaker-than-expected first-half underlying profit growth and announced the retirement of its top boss Brad Banducci.

Shares of material companies also fell on tracking weaker iron ore prices in top steel producer China due to tepid demand outlook. BHP Group Fortescue and Rio Tinto shed between 2.7% and 3.7%, respectively. Santos shed as much as 2%, after the oil and gas producer reported a 42% drop in annual underlying profits.

Information technology stocks jumped, with WiseTech Global rising 13% to a record A$90.23 after logistics software co reported 8% rise in statutory profit to A$118.2 million for half year ended December and hiked its interim dividend to 7.7 AU cents per shares, up 17% on HY23.

On the economic news front, Australia Wage Price Index Climbs 0.9% In Q4- Australia's wage price index was up a seasonally adjusted 0.9% on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2023, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. On a yearly basis the wage price index climbed 4.2% and unchanged from the previous three months. The public sector rose 4.3% over the 12 months to the December quarter 2023, tracking slightly above the private sector (4.2%) for the first time since December quarter 2020.

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