A sixth loss from seven sessions dragged the ASX to an eight-week low this morning as job ads declined and QBE issued a profit warning.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was 32 points or 0.6% lower at 5153, less than 10 points above the mid-October closing low. The financials sector was once again the main culprit, slumping 1.4% after QBE announced it will lose $250 million this calendar year after writing down its North American business. Shares in the insurer plunged nearly 20%. Among a handful of sectors to make headway were telecoms +0.7%, metals & mining +0.3% and industrials +0.3%.
Weakness in the labour market was highlighted by a 0.8% deterioration in ANZ's monthly jobs survey for November. The decline followed a 0.1% fall in October.
"While across the different measures of labour demand there have been some signs of stabilisation, it remains unclear whether this will persist and result in an increase in labour demand over the next couple of month," ANZ's head of Australian economics Justin Fabo told Fairfax. "Despite the improvements in some areas of the economy, labour market conditions are likely to remain soggy in the near term."
There was little reaction to Chinese inflation data released at 12.30pm EST. Read more here.
Asian markets moved higher. China's Shanghai Composite edged up 0.15%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.52% and Japan's Nikkei 1.93%. Dow futures were recently up 21 points or more than 0.1%.
Crude oil futures rallied 16 cents this morning to US$97.81 a barrel. Spot gold slipped $1.10 to US$1,229.60 an ounce. The dollar was buying 91.25 US cents.
Sheesh, PSY just keeps on giving. Been one of the best trading stocks of a good year. Brightened up an otherwise drab session. QBE maintained its record as a serial disappointer - profit warning issued every year since 2009, according to Fairfax. There's a company that won't learn from its mistakes. I was handed a get-out-of-jail card for API and cashed it in almost immediately. Got a small profit out of it but more important sometimes is the psychological relief from escaping a dud trade.
