CBA – the nation’s biggest stock – fell 0.8 per cent, National Australia Bank slipped 0.5 per cent and ANZ Bank shed 0.4 per cent.
However, utilities were the session’s worst-performing sector. Origin Energy, the nation’s top energy retailer, lost 3.8 per cent and AGL dropped 3.7 per cent after the Albanese government said power providers will be forced to offer a new type of bill plan that supplies all households – with and without solar panels – with free power during the middle of the day.
The mining heavyweights declined as iron ore prices dropped on concerns about China’s economic outlook, as a measure of the country’s manufacturing activity expanded less than expected. BHP (down 1.9 per cent), Rio Tinto (down 2.6 per cent) and Fortescue (down 2.7 per cent) all lost ground. South 32 fell 2.9 per cent, and rare earths miner Lynas also lost 1.2 per cent.
Oil and gas giants Woodside and Santos were down 0.7 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively. Oil fluctuated between gains and losses overnight as traders weighed the OPEC+ alliance’s plan to pause its output revival next quarter on anticipation demand will slow, while the market is seen headed for oversupply.
Childcare provider G8’s shares slumped 13 per cent after the company issued a profit warning, citing a fall in enrolments at its childcare centres in the cost-of-living crisis. The company has seen its sharemarket value almost halve this year after allegations of child sexual abuse in one of its centres.
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Data centre operator Next DC jumped 4.2 per cent, boosting tech stocks. The gains came after Sydney-based data centre operator Iren’s shares rallied 11.5 per cent on the Nasdaq overnight on the news it landed a $US9.7 billion ($14.8 billion) deal to provide AI cloud services to Microsoft in the global scramble for AI computing capacity. The US tech giant fell 0.2 per cent after announcing the deal with Iren, which will give it access to some of Nvidia’s chips to keep up with AI demand.
More gains for Nvidia, Amazon and other AI superstars were propping up the US market overnight, even as most other stocks fell.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent and was closing near its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.4 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5 per cent higher. Share price losses were widespread, and two out of every three stocks within the S&P 500 fell.
with Bloomberg, AAP, AP
