Thanks @Quantum Torus@Ravgnome and AM Loungers. Big shout out to the moderators - @Bugsam and @nihilism (maybe others but you guys seem to be hanging around here) who keep this thread in order - not always an easy job especially when market conditions are tough and tempers are flaring.
A late rally from banking and health care helped lift the Australian share market off a near two-year low but commodity-related stocks and tech shares weighed heavily.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 29 points, or 0.51 per cent, at 5642.8 at 1615 AEDT on Wednesday, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 0.64 per cent.
The market is yet again flirting with the 5,640 to 5,650 points mark which many analysts view as a floor of resistance, CommSec market analyst James Tao said.
"The area has been a little of resistance for the markets over recent times and it continues to trade just above it," he told AAP.
Plummeting oil prices - weakened by wider uncertainty in global equities - has decimated local energy stocks, with the sector dropping nearly two-and-a-half per cent.
Beach Energy plummeted 10.7 per cent, Origin and Santos lost 2.6 per cent and 4.4 per cent respectively, and Woodside Petroleum and Soul Pattinson were also lower.
Falling energy shares had also contributed to Wall Street's overnight slump, where trade tensions and a sell-off in technology stocks also caused havoc.
The local tech sector was down 2.8 per cent, with Afterpay losing 5.1 per cent to $10.63, Computershare lost three per cent, while Xero and Wisetech Global fell 2.5 per cent and 2.9 per cent.
Heavyweight materials stocks weighed significantly on Wednesday as metal prices took another hit overnight, with BHP down 3.3 per cent to $31.60 and Rio Tinto down 3.2 per cent to $77.30.
South 32 and BlueScope Steel were down 4.3 per cent and 6.3 per cent.
A strong afternoon from the major banks reversed the financial sectors early losses.
Commonwealth Bank led the gains for the big four lenders, up 1.2 per cent to $70.06, and ANZ the least, up 0.5 per cent to $25.42, while Macquarie lost 1.9 per cent to close at $112.77.
Health care was a consistent bright spot for the bourse as sector giant CSL jumped 1.7 per cent to $178.77, and Sonic Healthcare climbed 4.1 per cent on a stronger earnings report.
Coles shares floated at $12.49 and lifted 26 cents by the close, while Wesfarmers was down 27.7 per cent to $31.96 with the major supermarket no longer in its stable.
Meanwhile, troubled discount retailer The Reject Shop jumped 14 per cent to $2.77 when it received a $78 million takeover bid after it had slashed its profit guidance by 40 per cent in October.
The Australian dollar fought a rearguard action as a rout in global share markets and a new broadside on US-China trade sent investors to safe haven currencies.
The Aussie dollar was down at 72.31 US cents at 1630 AEDT, from 72.76 on Tuesday.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed was down 29 points, or 0.51 per cent, at 5642.8
* The All Ordinaries closed down 37.1 points, or 0.64 per cent, at 5722.1
* At 1630 AEDT, the SPI200 futures index was down 36 points, or 0.63 per cent, at 5642.0
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEDT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 72.31 US cents, from 72.76 US cents cents on Tuesday
* 81.62 Japanese yen, from 81.88
* 63.55 euro cents, from 62.55
* 56.51 British pence, from 56.59
* 106.29 NZ cents, from 106.32
GOLD:
The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1630 AEDT was $US1,221.13 per fine ounce, up from $US1,222.50 on Tuesday.
U.S. stocks recouped some losses on Wednesday after a brutal two-day selloff as strong earnings from Foot Locker and gains in technology stocks lifted investor sentiment ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
The S&P energy index led the gainers among the 11 S&P sectors with a 2.5 percent rise, as oil prices steadied after a 6 percent plunge the previous day. [O/R]
The pressure on technology stocks appeared to have eased on Wednesday, with the S&P technology sector, posting a 1.4 percent rise after three sessions of declines.
Four members of the so-called FAANG group were higher — Facebook Inc, Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc rose between 0.3 percent and 2.6 percent - while Netflix Inc edged 0.5 percent lower.
Autodesk Inc jumped 8.8 percent and was the top gainer among the tech sector after the software company reported third-quarter results above analysts’ estimates and announced an $875 million deal to buy cloud-based software company PlanGrid.
“The market probably came in a bit oversold this week, which traditionally on a Thanksgiving week, is very unlike what it usually does,” said Larry Benedict, founder of The Opportunistic Trader in Boca Raton, Florida.
“This is a little bit of a relief. And if you go back in history this is an up day (day before Thanksgiving) about 85 percent of the time.”
A report by capital markets-focused MNI saying the Fed may pause its rate hiking cycle as early as spring could also be supporting the markets, some market experts said.
At 12:51 a.m. EDT the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 167.87 points, or 0.69 percent, at 24,633.51, the S&P 500 was up 24.95 points, or 0.94 percent, at 2,666.84 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 109.14 points, or 1.58 percent, at 7,017.96.
Worries about slowing global growth and peaking corporate earnings have sapped risk appetite in recent months, throwing into doubt the longevity of the decade-old bull run for stocks.
Nasdaq closed at its lowest level in over seven months on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow erased all their gains for the year.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 4.20-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 4.11-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded six new 52-week highs and three new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded nine new highs and 60 new lows.
Source: Netwealth Morning Business Roundup
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