A sharp decline in mining and energy stocks dragged the Australian sharemarket lower on Friday, shrugging off another strong session on Wall Street.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell by 0.2 per cent, or 11.4 points, to 7770.6 at the closing bell, weighed down by a sell-off in the commodity-related sectors. The benchmark sealed a weekly gain of 1.3 per cent.
The All Ordinaries fell 0.2 per cent.
In New York, all three major equity benchmarks reset record highs, though the rally’s momentum was checked somewhat by a 4.1 per cent slide in Apple, which is being sued by the US Department of Justice.
In the ASX, energy stocks tracked a lower crude oil price to fall 1.3 per cent. Brent closed below $US86 after a stronger US dollar outweighed optimism that the Federal Reserve will stick to its rate cut forecast this year. Woodside Energy fell 1.8 per cent to $29.73 and Ampol declined 0.8 per cent to $40.29.
The materials sector dropped 0.9 per cent as Singapore iron ore futures traded down 3.1 per cent to $US106.40 a tonne on the April contract. That sent BHP down 0.8 per cent to $40.29 and Fortescue Metals off 2.1 per cent to $24.64.
ANZ analysts Daniel Hynes and Soni Kumari wrote in a note to clients that the iron ore price may be near a floor amid a reset in expectations around demand.
The analysts said the price will continue to reflect what they see as “no near-term solution to China’s property market woes, and steel demand from its residential real estate is likely to fall further this year”.
The gold price also eased to about $US2180 an ounce after resetting its record high. It’s still up near 10 per cent since mid-February.
Gold stocks were among the worst performers as investors took some profits. Bellevue Gold dropped 5.3 per cent to $1.885 and Genesis Minerals lost 6.3 per cent to $1.80.
Stocks on the move
In company news, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rallied 7.7 per cent to $24.18 and was the best performing stock on the ASX 200 after the company upgraded its earnings guidance for financial year 2024 to be in the range of approximately $NZ260 million ($239.1 million) to $NZ265 million.
The forecast is up from the company’s previous net profit after tax projection of a range of $NZ250 million to $NZ260 million.