The numbers
The Australian sharemarket declined on Thursday,shrugging off overnight gains on Wall Street,as a slump in the oil price weighed on energy stocks.
The S&P/ASX 200 dropped 44.2 points,or 0.6 per cent,to close at 7029.2 points,dragged down by mining and energy stocks and utilities.
The three biggest stocks on the ASX all declined,pulling the index lower:BHP,the world’s largest miner,shed 1.4per cent,the nation’s biggest lender CBA dropped 0.8 per cent and biotech giant CSL lost 0.5 per cent.
Origin shares closed 1.1 per cent lower at $8.33,having been in trading halt for large parts of the session as the company on its $20 billion takeover by Brookfield and EIG after it getting a revised late-minute alternative proposal.
Wall Street gained ahead of America’s Thanksgiving holidayAP
The lifters
Wealth giant AMP was the day’s top performer,gaining 5.9 per cent after reaching a $100 million settlement in a long-running class action launched by financial advisers over the prices the wealth giant paid them to buy their businesses.
Healius had a 5.3 per cent share price rebound after losing a third of its market value on Wednesday following the sale of new shares to fund managers at a heavy discount.
The laggards
Chalice Mining was the biggest loser of the day,sliding 5.5 per cent,with Nickel Industries (down 5.2 per cent) and Star Entertainment Group (down 4.8 per cent) also languishing at the bottom of the bourse.
Energy giants Woodside and Santos (both down 1.7 per cent) retreated as crude oil prices tumbled after OPEC said it would postpone its latest conference to next week.
The oil cartel has been maintaining a tight market for crude oil with production cuts.
The lowdown
AGM season isn’t over yet,but Macquarie’s research team has issued a wrap-up of what they’ve seen so far,observing “far fewer negative surprises than last year”.
“Overall AGM season is much better than last year. Not only was there less negative share price volatility,there were more companies upgrading than downgrading guidance. This suggests guidance may have been conservative in August,and we could see more upgrades next reporting season,” the team wrote in a note.
“If there is one negative warning in AGM season,it is the downside risk for stocks with high labour costs and the inability to pass on those costs.” The health sector is most at risk of this issue,which has resulted in downgrades for Integral Diagnostics and Healius.
Winners of 2023’s AGM season are consumer staples companies,with the health,media and bank sectors suffering,Macquarie said.
On Wall Street overnight,the S&P 500 rose 0.4 per cent and remains on track for a modest gain in a holiday-shortened week ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday in the US. The Dow Jones rose 0.5 per cent and the Nasdaq rose 0.6 per cent.
Crude oil prices sank 4 per cent after OPEC said it would postpone its latest conference to next week. The oil cartel has been maintaining a tight market for crude oil with production cuts.
The slump in oil prices weighed heavily on US energy companies. Petrol giant ExxonMobil fell 1 per cent and oilfield services company Halliburton fell 1.4 per cent.
Treasury yields were relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.42 per cent from 4.40 per cent late on Tuesday. The yield on the 2-year Treasury rose to 4.90 per cent from 4.89 per cent late on Tuesday.
Stocks in Asia and Europe were mostly mixed and trading was tapering off ahead of holidays in the US and Japan,with few data releases to give markets direction.
Markets will be closed in the US on Thursday for Thanksgiving and will close early on Friday.
Wall Street remained relatively quiet ahead of the long holiday weekend in the US.
Tweet of the day
Quote of the day
“Based on the proxy votes received to date,had the scheme meeting proceeded today,it is unlikely that the scheme would have achieved the required 75 per cent approval by shareholders.”
That’s a statement from Origin Energy,which after getting a revised late-night offer from them.
You may have missed
Craig Hutchison’s Sports Entertainment Group is to TAB NZ for $3.7 million,taking a small step in paying off its debt load.
The company has previously identified a need for capital and avenues to reduce its large debt ahead of a looming deadline in August next year,with a $9.3 million loss in its recent financial filings raising concerns for Hutchison,the budding media and sports mogul.
with AP
The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day’s trading..