AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
FRA
GER
ESP
ITA
NLD
PRT
SWE
GRC
IND
POL
BRA
ZAF
RUS
CHN
UAE
Highlights:
- ASX200 gets a lifeless start to new week, closes 1.14% lower on Monday.
- Top losing sectors were Materials and Information Technology followed by Consumer Discretionary while, Healthcare was the only one gaining towards the end of session.
- EML Payments has grabbed a lot of attention today as it has tanked over 24% after CEO announced his exit from the company.
Australian stocks kicked off the new weak a little lifeless. Australian index, ASX200 closed Monday’s trade 1.14% lower to 6,602.20 points. Friday’s gains could not be continued as stocks pertaining to materials sector receded pulling the index down. While the index has not moved much over the last five days, it is down about 11.32% on a year-to-date basis.
Other noteworthy trends
While Australian shares were trading lower, Volatility indicator, A-VIX index firmed up about 4.32% today. Meanwhile, the All-ordinaries index followed the broader market trend dropping 1.227%. Large cap representative ASX50 index (XFL) was also down about 0.977%. Even mid-caps and small ordinaries indices closed Monday’s trade lower by 1.87% and 1.709%.
Best and worst on ASX200 
Image Source © 2022 Kalkine Media ®, data source- ASX website
Market movers
- EML Payments (ASX:EML) tumbled 24% after announcing a sudden resignation from CEO Tom Cregan. He is to be succeeded by current EML board member Emma Shand.
- Health Care was the only gaining sector on the Australian index. Notably, healthcare bigshots Resmed (ASX:RMD) and Fisher & Paykel (ASX:FPH) were down 1.216% and 3.407%. Meanwhile, Cochlear (ASX:COH), another health care large-cap gained 0.128%.
- From the Materials sector, Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) lost 2.124%, BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) was down 3.110% and Fortescue Metals Group (ASX:FMG) fell 2.601%.
- Following the broader market lows in the Information Technology space, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) dipped 2.380% and Brainchip Holdings (ASX:BRN) fell 3.867%. Top loser however was Novonix (ASX:NVX), down about 11.38%.
- Ten of the eleven component industrial sectors on ASX200 ended trade lower today.
In global markets:
Globally, investors are worried about inflation and global recession. US unemployment data was released last week which eased some recession fears however raising expectations of further monetary tightening. Investors are next waiting for US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, due this Wednesday.
In Asia, stocks were mostly down. However, Japan’s Nikkei index jumped higher while South Korean KOSPI fell. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was also trading lower alongside Chinese peers Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component indices. The first case of highly infectious BA.5 omicron sub-variant was identified in Shanghai on Sunday which incited fears of lockdowns again. Meanwhile the Chinese imports and exports data are expected by Wednesday.
On commodities front:
- Oil prices have taken a dip as recessionary fears loom larger. China’s Covid outbreaks are creating worries of a weak future demand. Meanwhile Russian sanctions continue to be another important factor influencing the black liquid’s price. Both oil benchmarks Brent and WTI were declining on Monday.
- Gold prices were down in Asia today morning after US dollar got boosted by bets on further interest rate hikes post US employment data release. Amongst other precious metals, silver moved higher while platinum and palladium followed gold to trade lower.
