The ASX finished in the red for the fourth straight day with losses across the board, but miners were the ‘conspicuous’ exception.
The Australian sharemarket pulled back for a fourth straight day as energy stocks slumped and some bank stocks lost ground, but miners appreciated “conspicuously”.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed 0.57 per cent lower at 7381.9, while the All Ordinaries Index fell 0.47 per cent to 7701.2.
CommSec analyst Tim Piotrowski said the local bourse fell away in anticipation of October jobs figures, rallied a bit, then sellers leaned in.
Australia’s unemployment rate surged last month to a six-month high of 5.2 per cent, up from 4.6 per cent in September, but covered the period between September 26 and October 9 – before Sydney’s lockdown ended on October 11 and Melbourne’s on October 22.
That captured a deteriorating labour market amid Delta outbreaks, while the impact of re-openings won’t be seen until November data is released next month.
“Forward looking measures are suggesting the employment figures in November will be substantially better,” Mr Piotrowski said.
“Job vacancies, for example, are currently at their highest levels in around 13 years.
“Obviously the market is thinking through the prism of what the RBA might do and really there’s nothing in these numbers that would suggest one thing or the other.”
Energy stocks were weak, with Woodside declining 2.74 per cent to $22.01, Santos shedding 2.02 per cent to $6.78, Beach Energy erasing 3.1 per cent to $1.25 and Origin sliding 1.4 per cent to $4.93.
“Overnight, there was an unexpected build in US oil inventories and there were also suggested initiatives on the part of the US government, where they might make attempts to try and control higher energy prices, to make the economic impact a little less severe,” Mr Piotrowski said.
ANZ slipped 0.18 per cent to $28.07, Commonwealth Bank gave up 1.6 per cent to $107.17, National Australia Bank backtracked 1.63 per cent to $29.66 and Westpac inched three cents lower to $22.68.
Rio Tinto gained 1.86 per cent to $89.14 and BHP lifted 2.57 per cent to $36.66.
Fortescue rocketed 8.19 per cent to $15.45 after investors digested comments that its Fortescue Future Industries division, which is pursuing “green” hydrogen and renewable energy projects, would have its own funding sources secured without recourse to Fortescue, but 10 per cent of the miner’s net profit will go to FFI.
“What is very conspicuous in a weaker market is the improvements that we’re seeing for mining stocks,” Mr Piotrowski said.
“There’s a bit of logic behind this: overnight we saw some much higher than expected inflation numbers out of the US, essentially hitting their highest levels since 1990, with the US CPI coming in at 6.2 per cent.
“That is corrosive for your money – investors are trying to find a hedge and they head for hard assets.”
Among gold stocks, Regis Resources jumped 6.47 per cent to $2.14, Gold Road Resources rose 5.1 per cent to $1.54 and Ramelius Resources advanced 4.23 per cent to $1.72.
But Geopacific Resources plunged 25 per cent to 24 cents after providing an update on its Woodlark gold project in Papua New Guinea.
The news was bad, with early earthwork delayed due to factors including unseasonal inclement weather and rising Covid-19 cases, which have also set back a community relocation program.
Chalice Mining continued its stellar rally, surging 9.64 per cent to $10.04 after providing an update on the planned demerger of its wholly owned subsidiary Falcon Metals and its initial public offer, with Chalice investors getting a priority offer.
Chalice has been on a run since declaring on Tuesday the biggest nickel sulphide discovery globally in more than 20 years and the biggest platinum group elements find in Australian history at its Julimar project not far from Perth, which left analysts impressed.
In the tech sector, accounting software provider Xero reported a 23 per cent surge in subscribers for the first half, but EBITDA slumped 19 per cent while free cash flow plummeted 88 per cent, sending its shares 6.22 per cent lower to $138.12.
Ord Minnett said Xero’s top-line figures were in line with its estimate, but deemed the lift in subscribers insufficient.
“International subscriber growth was slower than expected and we think this could be attributed to the lower sales and marketing spend over the period,” Ord Minnett said.
Aerial survey company Nearmap held its annual general meeting and provided its fiscal 2022 contract value guidance of $150-$160m on a constant currency basis, up from $133.8m for the 2021 financial year, which beat its forecast.
Nearmap also said it would burn $30m in net cash this financial year and its shares tanked, slumping 12.33 per cent to $1.88.
Telstra firmed 0.5 per cent to $3.95.
The Aussie dollar was fetching 73.07 US cents, 54.45 British pence and 63.63 Euro cents in afternoon trade.
Originally published as Australian sharemarket pulls back for a fourth straight day but miners big winners
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