Local shares slipped on Thursday as uncertainty took over in the wake of a much-anticipated news conference by Donald Trump, which offered little clarity on the US President-elect's fiscal policies, disappointing US dollar bulls.
The S&P/ASX200 initially rose above 5800 points, boosted by miners and energy stocks, but the market ran out of steam in afternoon trade as US futures turned south, indicating a lower start on Wall Street. The benchmark index closed 0.1 per cent lower at 5766.9, just its second session in the red out of eight this year.
The materials and energy sectors were among the day's winners, both rising 0.6 per cent. BHP Billiton profited from a rise in oil prices and iron ore, adding 1.3 per cent. Rio Tinto gained 1 per cent and Fortescue added 1.1 per cent, after the iron ore spot price jumped above $US80 a tonne on Wednesday night.
The surge in iron ore prices is trickling through to miner earnings: BC Iron shares soared 20 per cent to 21¢ after the miner lifted its first-half profit guidance. 1
Stocks fell on Thursday after President-elect Donald Trump disappointed investors during his first news conference since July.
"I think we're moderating some of the moves we've seen over the past few weeks, and that's OK," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities. "We've baked in a lot of good news; now we need policy details."
The Dow Jones industrial average traded about 60 points lower in afternoon ET, with Goldman Sachs contributing the most losses. At session lows, the blue-chips index had fallen more than 180 points.
The S&P 500 dropped around 0.2 percent, with financials falling 0.6 percent to lead decliners. Pressuring the financial sector were bank stocks, as the SPDR S&P Bank ETF (KBE) shed 1.3 percent. The Nasdaq composite underperformed, falling 0.33 percent.
"Donald Trump's press conference on Wednesday was not what investors wanted to hear, with talk of protectionism and more company bashing not exactly being market friendly," Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, said in a note.
Trump took shots at the pharmaceutical industry, which sent health care and biotechnology stocks reeling. He also failed to provide new details on three of his key policies: tax reform, deregulation of certain sectors and fiscal stimulus. 2
WTI rose 89 cents, or 1.7 percent, to trade at $53.14 per barrel.
