Australian shares traded broadly flat on Wednesday despite fresh record highs for Wall Street’s S&P 500 and Nasdaq, with the local market weighed down by weaker banks, miners and energy stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 had risen just 0.1 points by midday to 8,735.8, while the broader All Ordinaries was effectively unchanged at 8,903.9.
Local equities failed to replicate the technology-led rally in the United States, where gains were driven by large technology companies that have no equivalent presence on the Australian market.
“The absence of mega-cap technology stocks on the ASX is keeping a lid on the index, while yesterday’s 4.7 per cent plunge in consumer confidence gives some pause for thought,” Moomoo chief market strategist Tapas Strickland said.
Oil prices edged higher after the US Energy Information Administration increased its crude price forecast, as the continuing US-Israel war on Iran put further pressure on global stockpiles. The Australian energy sector nevertheless slipped 0.2 per cent, with Woodside, Santos, refinery operators and coal producers among the weaker performers.
Uranium stocks provided some support, with Silex, Paladin and Boss Energy rising as renewed enthusiasm around artificial intelligence lifted the wider technology investment theme. Battery minerals and rare earths companies also advanced, although their gains eased after a stronger session on Tuesday.
BHP fell 1.5 per cent to $61.95, reducing the mining giant’s market value by about $4.6 billion. The wider banking and mining sectors were also tracking lower.
Gold producers were among the standout performers, with the sector rising 1.8 per cent as gold strengthened against a softer US dollar to $US4,158, equivalent to about $A5,958, an ounce.
Consumer discretionary stocks added 0.6 per cent, led by Super Retail, Lovisa and Wesfarmers. Healthcare stocks gained 0.5 per cent, with Telix Pharmaceuticals, Pro Medicus and Mesoblast among the risers.
Telix climbed more than 5 per cent after the first US patients were given doses of Pixclara, its brain cancer imaging drug.
In company news, The Lottery Corp said chief financial officer Adam Newman was stepping down after four years, prompting the board to begin searching for a successor. BHP has also sold its mothballed Kambalda nickel concentrator and exploration tenements to South Africa’s Gold Fields.
Speculation continued that Gold Fields could make an improved takeover offer for Northern Star, Australia’s largest gold miner, after its $38.7 billion proposal was rejected.
The Australian dollar was buying 69.79 US cents, up from 69.69 US cents at 5pm on Tuesday.
