SYDNEY – Australia’s sharemarket slipped from record territory on Monday as losses in the major banks and consumer stocks outweighed gains in miners and energy producers.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index ended 5 points higher, or 0.06%, at 8,972.4, after earlier surging to a fresh intraday peak of 9,054 on hopes of U.S. rate cuts. The broader All Ordinaries rose 0.12% to 9,245.
Financials led declines, falling 1.18%. Commonwealth Bank dropped 1.47% to A$170.30, Westpac 1.77% to A$38.29, NAB 1.79% to A$41.71 and ANZ 1.39% to A$33.40.
Consumer discretionary stocks also weakened, with Breville down 1.54% to A$34.59 and Bapcor sliding 3.18% to A$3.96.
By contrast, resource and energy shares provided support. The materials sector climbed 2.72% after iron ore prices rallied 2% to US$102 a tonne. BHP rose 2.71% to A$43.14, Fortescue 2.56% to A$20 and Rio Tinto 2.4% to A$115.42.
Woodside Energy gained 0.9% to A$26.85, while Santos added 0.64% to A$7.81 after reporting A$4 billion in half-year revenue and extending exclusive takeover talks with Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC until Sept. 19.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.89% to 45,631, the S&P 500 rose 1.52% to 6,466.9, and the Nasdaq gained 1.88% to 21,496 after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell struck a dovish tone at the Jackson Hole conference. Futures markets now price an 87% chance of a Fed rate cut in September, according to CME FedWatch.
Earnings season continued to drive sharp moves. Adore Beauty surged 11.11% to A$1.00 after a 67.8% profit jump, and Southern Cross Media soared 26.52% to A$0.84 on stronger revenues. But Reece tumbled 16.42% to A$11.76, the day’s biggest laggard, after profits dropped 24%.
The session’s top gainer was Megaport, up 13.24% to A$16.08. The Australian dollar edged up 0.05% to US$0.65 at the local close.
