The Australian share market has finished slightly lower for a second day running as mining stocks dipped but better-than-expected jobs growth helped lift the Australian dollar back around 80 US cents territory after an overnight dip.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 finished the day down 5.6 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,738.7 points.
Official figures released on Thursday showed that Australia's unemployment rate was steady at 5.6 per cent in August but the economy added far more jobs than expected.
The Australian dollar had slipped to around 79.7 US cents overnight as hopes of progress on long-awaited US tax reform fuelled the greenback.
But the Aussie spiked to 80.16 US cents just after the local jobs figures were released, and was at 79.98 US cents at 1630 AEST on Thursday, from 80.28 US cents on Wednesday.
Phillip Capital senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said the local share market had a good run upward on Monday and Tuesday and had finished "line ball" on Wednesday and Thursday.
"That's not bad compared to the two previous weeks - at least we've improved a bit," Mr Heffernan said.
He said mining stocks were having a breather "after a good couple of days".
In the resources sector, BHP Billiton eased 1.8 per cent to $26.89, Rio Tinto backtracked 1.6 per cent to $68.38, and South32 slipped 0.9 per cent to $3.20 as it went ex-dividend.
In the energy sector, firmer oil prices helped Woodside Petroleum lift 0.8 per cent to $28.54, and Santos climbed one per cent to to $3.94.
Among the major banks ANZ rose 0.5 per cent to $30.19, Westpac put on 0.3 per cent at $31.82, Commonwealth Bank improved 0.3 per cent to $76.75, and National Australia Bank was up 0.7 per cent to $30.94.
Department store operator Myer ascended one cent, or 1.4 per cent, to 73 cents after its full-year financial results were not as bad as many analysts had feared.
The retailer made just $11.94 million in statutory net profit for the 52 weeks to July 29, down 80.3 per cent on the previous 53-week year.
Underlying net profit was down 1.9pct to $67.9m.
Vocus Goup edged up one cent to $2.42 despite a proposed class action alleging the telecommunications provider had engaged in "misleading and deceptive conduct" and breached disclosure obligations.
Macquarie Atlas Roads was in a trading halt as it seeks to raise $450 million to help fund the expansion of its stake in a French motorway network.
Macquarie Atlas last traded at $5.53.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 closed down 5.6 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,738.7 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 5.6 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,798.4 points.
* The September SPI200 futures contract was down 11 points or 0.19 per cent at 5,735 points.
* National turnover was 3.2 billion securities traded worth $5.0 billion.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1700 AEST:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 79.96 US cents, from 80.28 on Wednesday
* 88.3195 Japanese yen, from 88.39 yen
* 67.28 euro cents, from 67.04 euro cents
* 60.53 British pence, from 60.31 pence
* 110.53 NZ cents, from 110.07 cents
GOLD:
The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEST was $US1,321.58 per fine ounce, from $US1,330.02 per fine ounce on Wednesday.
BOND SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEST:
* CGS 4.50 per cent April 2020, 1.9764pct, from 1.9386pct on Wednesday
* CGS 4.75pct April 2027, 2.6783pct, from 2.6186pct
Sydney Futures Exchange prices:
* August 2017 10-year bond futures contract at 97.2725 (implying a yield of 2.7275 pct), from 97.33 (2.67pct) on Wednesday
* August 2017 3-year bond futures contract at 97.93 (2.07pct), from 97.97 (2.03pct).
(*Bond market closes taken at 1630 AEST previous local session; currency closes taken from 1700 AEST previous local session)
In the U.S., rising shares of Boeing pulled the Dow Jones Industrial Average up to a record high on Thursday, while the S&P 500 fell as investors saw higher-than-expected inflation increasing the chances of an interest rate hike.
The Dow’s third consecutive all-time high was driven in part by Boeing BA.N, which rose 1.36 percent after Deutsche Bank raised its price target on the aerospace and defense stock.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq moved lower after a Labor Department report showed consumer prices rose more than expected in August, boosting the odds of another interest rate hike this year.
The consumer price index’s (CPI) 0.4-percent gain last month was its biggest in seven months and is the last major economic data to be released ahead of the Federal Reserve’s Sept. 19-20 policy meeting.
“I don’t think the market was expecting that kind of a strength in terms of inflation,” said Victor Jones, director of trading at TD Ameritrade.
“What people want is know is whether or not Yellen is going to talk about the lack of inflation as transitory, or whether it is continuing to concern them.”
After the data, the odds of a hike in December rose above 50 percent for the first time since July, from 41.3 percent, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
The Dow .DJI rose 0.2 percent to end at 22,203.48 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.11 percent to 2,495.62.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 0.48 percent to 6,429.08, hurt by a 0.86-percent decline in Apple AAPL.O.
Six of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors rose, led by a 0.88 percent increase in utilities .SPLRCU.
The energy index .SPNY climbed 0.39 percent after U.S. crude CLc1 hit $50 per barrel for the first time since Aug. 10 on a bullish demand forecast by the International Energy Agency. (Full Story)
Helped by strong corporate earnings reports and optimism that President Donald Trump will cut business taxes, the Dow has gained 12 percent this year.
The S&P 500, up 11 percent in 2017, is trading at 17.6 times expected earnings, expensive compared with its 10-year average of 14.3, according to Thomson Reuters Datastream.
“I‘m not taking money out of stocks, but when new cash comes in, I‘m adding to our fixed income, whether that’s preferred shares, corporate bonds or mortgage-backed securities,” said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa.
The consumer discretionary index .SPLRCD fell 0.54 percent, pulled down by a 0.74-percent decline in Amazon.com AMZN.O and a 0.93-percent dip in Walt Disney DIS.N.
Equifax EFX.N fell 2.35 percent after the Federal Trade Commission opened a probe into the company’s massive data breach.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.09-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.20-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
About 6.0 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, above the 5.8 billion 20-day average.
Source: Netwealth Morning Business Roundup
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