The S&P/ASX 200 closed flat on Wednesday,just 0.1 points lower than where it started. However,the index had an interesting journey during the day,falling by 120 points at the open,or 2 per cent,to hit 5100.
It spent the rest of the day climbing back up,boosted by late morning news of an 8 per cent increase in retail sales for March,and strong US futures in the afternoon. An absence of bad corporate news kept sentiment in check.
Six of 11 sectors close higher with financials up 0.7 per cent,healthcare up 1.3 per cent,and utilities up 1.4 per cent thanks to gains in AusNet Services,APA Group,AGL,and Spark Infrastructure. Meanwhile,the materials sector was a major drag with a decline of 2 per cent. Stocks within this sector are weighed down by record low oil prices and poor economic growth outlook,which will see lower demand for construction materials like steel.
WiseTech ended the day 16.8 per cent higher at $16.09 after confirming guidance. These gains repaired a fall of 12.5 per cent the session before. Pinnacle Investment Management gained 12.1 per cent,and Avita Medical gained 9.30 per cent.
The biggest decline was an 8.3 per cent fall in Southern Cross Media to 11¢,now down 81.3 per cent since the start of this year.
Qantas dropped 6.4 per cent to $3.36. Other travel companies also slid. Flight Centre dropped 6 per cent and Webjet fell 5.4 per cent.