A decline in commodity prices, concerns of a global slowdown and a spike in Covid-19 cases in China, weighed on the Australian sharemarket, with the ASX 200 sliding by 22.7 pts or 0.34 per cent to 6606.6. Losses were led by the Energy sector, which had its worst day since May 2020 after falling by 5.8 per cent. At the close, eight sectors and 112 stocks in the ASX 200 finished higher, with the index ending a two-day winning streak.

Tech stocks such as Megaport (MP1) and Zip (ZIP) were amongst the best performers today, after climbing by 14 per cent and 12.7 per cent, respectively. Gains in the tech sector followed in the footsteps of the US Nasdaq index, which had its best day in about a week after Treasury Yields retreated. Miners were amongst the worst performers today, held back partly by new Covid-19 outbreaks in China and fears of fresh lockdowns. China is the world’s largest buyer of commodities.

US crude prices fell below US$100 per barrel for the first time since May, after fears that aggressive rate hikes by central banks could cause a global slowdown. Reuters also reported that “Shanghai said it would begin new rounds of mass COVID-19 testing of its 25 million residents, reigniting worries about potential lockdowns.”

In company news, Bubs Australia (BUB) has completed the $32.4 million institutional component of its $63 million equity raise. The retail entitlement offer will open on Tuesday and is expected to raise $22.9 million. Proceeds will be partly used for the ‘scale up of group activities’ given its rapid US expansion. BUB shares resumed trade this morning after entering a trading halt yesterday. Its shares fell by 3.1 per cent, but were down by as much as 13.4 per cent in early trade.

ASX (ASX) released its monthly activity report today. Total capital raised increased by 35 per cent to $21.6 billion. Average daily trades and daily value traded increased by 28 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively, over the year. Annually, average daily futures volume increased by two percent, but daily options volume more than halved.

 

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We’ve created an infographic on some of the key events which impacted the Australian sharemarket over the past financial year. You can access the infographic here.

3.5bn shares were traded, worth $8.2bn. 649 stocks rose, 736 fell & 339 finished unchanged.

In the US, minutes of the last Federal Reserve meeting is issued with JOLTs job openings and services purchasing manager indexes from ISM and S&P Global.

Published by Divik Nigam – (Author), CommSec