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The ASX sharply reversed after yesterday’s win today, closing red for the fifth time since last Thursday after another tough night on Wall Street.
Yesterday saw the benchmark ASX 200 index tack on a nifty 140 points as COVID-19 restrictions started to lift and some local borders began to reopen. Nevertheless, investors are still easily spooked; a downbeat session on Wall Street was enough to take the ASX 200 0.81 per cent, or 48 points, down today.
Overnight, the S&P 500 slipped 2.37 per cent, now having lost 9.6 per cent since September 2. The Nasdaq continued its reversal and closed at 10,633 points — its lowest point since late-July.
As such, our own tech sector once again led today’s downfall. Afterpay slumped 5.83 per cent, Xero fell 1.37 per cent, and WiseTech lost 2.2 per cent. Data centre specialist NEXTDC almost escaped the red but closed 0.56 per cent lower after a last-minute fall.
Energy stocks were also downtrodden, with Oil Search closing 3.87 per cent lower. Woodside lost 1.96 per cent, Santos lost 1.95 per cent, and Origin Energy lost 2.83 per cent.
Interestingly, losses on the financials sector were relatively marginal despite Westpac copping the largest-ever civil fine for its massive breaches of anti-money laundering laws last year. The bank was accused by AUSTRAC of 23 million law breaches relating to money laundering and facilitating child exploitation.
Today, the banking giant has agreed to pay a $1.3 billion fine for its actions. Nevertheless, the company’s shares only lost 0.12 per cent. Commonwealth Bank lost 0.11 per cent, while NAB and ANZ gained 0.41 per cent and 0.12 per cent, respectively.
As for the other pillar of our market, the materials sector fell 1.53 per cent today. Our iron ore giants fell just below the grey line, with Fortescue Metals lower by 0.19 per cent, BHP by 0.65 per cent, and Rio Tinto by 0.32 per cent.
It was our gold miners, however, that let the sector down. A two-month low in the spot price of the yellow metal took our major producers down. Ramelius Resources and De Grey Mining each shaved off more than six per cent. Evolution Mining lost 5.31 per cent, Newcrest lost 3.73 per cent, and St Barbara lost 3.29 per cent.
Overseas, it was a similarly downbeat session for major Asian markets. As the ASX closes for the day, the Hang Seng index is down 1.72 per cent and the Asia Dow is down 1.61 per cent. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 is 1.11 per cent lower and the Shanghai Composite is 1.44 per cent lower.
The Aussie dollar is weaker again today, currently buying 70.41 US cents, 55.43 pence, and 12.07 South African Rand.
Today’s ups and downs
It was a happy day for shareholders of quiet oil and gas company Triple Energy (ASX:TNP). The company has gone long periods of time without a trade over 2020, but today doubled unexplainably. Triple joins the string of companies with sudden share price surges this September but, interestingly, was not hit with a speeding ticket like its listed peers. Triple reshuffled its board earlier this week, and perhaps the share market operator deemed that enough to validate the rally. Shares closed 93.33 per cent higher at 2.9 cents each.
Meanwhile, battery materials company Novonix (ASX:NVX) has had a particularly tough couple of days following Tesla’s major Battery Day event. The tech giant said it would be looking into getting into the mining game for materials used to make electric vehicle batteries. In response, Novonix has tumbled 21.1 per cent, today closing at a one-month low of $1.20.
