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Highlights
- Today, ASX 200 gave up initial gains to close 0.15% lower at 6,591.10 points.
- Over the last five days, the index has lost 6.11%.
- Seven of 11 sectors closed lower; A-REIT emerged the best performing sector.
- Globally, investors are vigilantly eying surging inflation and aggressive policy tightening outlook by central banks.
Today seemed to be another disappointing day for the Australian share market as the benchmark index ASX 200 closed 0.15% lower at 6,591.10 points today. With today’s performance, the Australian share market has seen five straight sessions of hefty losses. Although the market opened on a positive note owing to a strong handover from Wall Street, it gave up gains made during the intraday trading at market close.
ASX 200 today
Investors heaved a sigh of relief in the early morning trade as ASX 200 opened nearly 1% higher at 6,663.40 points. Eight of 11 sectors were seen traded in the green in the initial few minutes of trading today. This was after the Federal Reserve gave the nod to the 75 basis points rate hike in its two-day meeting, which concluded Wednesday. The US central bank has indicated that the rate hike is one of the tools to control unabated inflation without pushing the US economy into recession.
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Fed Reserve chair Powell played down recession fears and said the US economy was still “very hot” and could withstand higher rates even in an “extraordinarily uncertain environment”. This received a mixed response from investors.
At one point, the energy sector was the worst performer, possibly pushed down by a drop in oil prices. The S&P/ASX 200 Energy (Sector) XEJ was down 0.882% at 10138.800 points. Sectors including A-REIT, information technology, telecommunications services, and materials, along with other sectors, led the early morning gains in today's trade.
Over the last five days, ASX 200 has lost 6.11%. Today, seven of 11 sectors closed lower at the market close, where utilities was the worst performer while A-REIT emerged as the best performing sector. Other sectors to close in green included energy, telecommunications services, and materials sectors.
Who gained? Who lost?
Coming to the top ASX 200 gainers, Eagers Automotive Limited (ASX:APE), Appen Limited (ASX:APX), and Ramelius Resources Limited (ASX:RMS) led the pack with 5.442%, 5.098%, and 5.069% gains, respectively. On the flip side, Link Administration Holding Limited (ASX:LNK), and Inghams Group Limited (ASX:ING) were the top losers, falling 10.428% and 4.445%, respectively.
Asian and global market
Overnight, all the three US indices closed higher. The S&P 500, which fell into the bear territory earlier this week, closed 1.46% higher at 3,789.99 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was 2.50% higher at 11,099.15 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1% at 30,668.53 points.
European stocks broke their six-day losing streak after the European Central Bank announced measures to temper a bond market rout, though this seemed to have left some investors displeased. The pan-European STOXX 600 jumped 1.42% at 413.10 points.
Today, Asian stocks fell, and the dollar regained footing as investors eyed surging inflation and an aggressive policy tightening outlook by the global central banks.
