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The Aussie share market staged a mild afternoon recovery to pare a decent chunk of this morning’s losses.
The local market was set up for a tough day after news that talks on the Trump administration’s coronavirus relief package had stalled, prompting a late-market sell-off on Wall Street.
Combine this with fresh lockdown laws in Auckland after New Zealand recorded its first COVID-19 case in over 100 days and a steep decline in the price of gold and you’ve got yourself a red day.
The ASX 200 index lost 0.6 per cent in the first hour of today’s trading session, but by market close had recouped a portion of the loss. The index ended up posting a slim 0.11 per cent loss, closing at 6132.
The materials sector was the weakest by some distance today, down 1.67 per cent as our gold stocks tumbled. The spot price of the precious metal declined in value by more than US$100 per ounce overnight — its steepest fall in seven years. Newcrest lost 3.23 per cent, Northern Star lost 5.35 per cent, and Evolution lost 5.3 per cent.
Our iron ore giants fell, too, with Fortescue down 1.36 per cent and Rio Tinto down 1.35 per cent. BHP lost 0.72 per cent.
The financials sector did what it could to steady the ship today as three of our big four banks closed green. Westpac tacked on a neat 2.31 per cent, NAB gained 2.24 per cent, and ANZ 1.95 per cent. Commonwealth Bank broke the ice as the first big lender to release its 2020 annual report, in which it highlighted an 11.3 per cent dip in full-year profit after tax. The bank’s share price subsequently lost 0.48 per cent.
Our local tech stocks followed the Nasdaq’s lead and slipped today, with WiseTech down a heavy 8.41 per cent. Computershare lost 3.29 per cent and Xero lost 1.64 per cent. Afterpay outperformed and closed 1.24 per cent higher.
Meanwhile, Cochlear carried the health sector to a win, with the hearing aid specialist gaining 2.96 per cent. CSL gained 0.27 per cent, while Fisher and Paykel Healthcare missed out and declined by 0.56 per cent.
Taking a look overseas, it’s mostly green across Asian markets today. The Asia Dow is currently up 0.48 per cent and the Nikkei 225 up 0.41 per cent. The Hang Seng is performing the best, up by 1.14 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite is lower by 0.63 per cent
The Australian dollar is slightly weaker today, currently worth 71.26 US cents, 54.59 pence, and 12.47 South African Rand.
Today’s ups and downs
Brewing company Broo (ASX:BEE) topped the gainer’s list today after landing a contract with Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) to make Broo Premium lager and Australia Draught. The CUB deal gives Broo the capacity for increased production and supply to meet market demand. The deal lasts for two years, with expected average orders of 48,000 cases per quarter. Broo shares gained 47.06 per cent and closed worth 2.5 cents each.
Meanwhile, junior explorer Dreadnaught Resources (ASX:DRE) slumped after revealing results from a recent reverse circulation drilling program at its Rocky Dam Gold-VMS Project in WA. While the results included some relatively-high-grade hits of between one and four grams per tonne of gold, they were nothing compared to the 13.8 gram per tonne hits the drilling was designed to follow up. Shares in Dreadnaught closed 25 per cent lower at 1.2 cents each.
