Yahoo Finance Banks drag ASX down nearly 1%
Australia’s share market has closed nearly 1 per cent lower, after Victoria extended its state of emergency and accompanying restrictions on movement and trade by four weeks.
It also follows a flat finish on Wall Street last week.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 (^AXJO) closed 0.81per cent lower to 6,076.40 points, and the broader All Ordinaries index (^AORD) closed 0.69 per cent lower to 6,218.50 points.
Financials was the worst performing sector, trading 1.74 per cent lower, followed by industrials and information technology, which were down 1.41 per cent and 1.38 per cent respectively.
The big four banks had a tough day of trade, with ANZ, NAB and Westpac trading more than 2 per cent lower, while Commonwealth Bank performed marginally better, sliding down 1.21 per cent.
One Australian dollar was buying 71.82 US cents, up from 71.70 US cents at the close of trade on Friday.
What happened this afternoon?
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 (^AXJO) is trading 0.62 per cent lower at midday, with the financials sector dragging 1.58 per cent lower.
The broader All Ordinaries index (^AORD) is trading 0.51 per cent lower at 12:10pm AEST.
NAB, Westpac and ANZ were trading more than 2 per cent lower, while Commonwealth Bank was down 1.37 per cent.
What happened this morning?
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 (^AXJO) has dropped 0.72 per cent at the opening of trade to 6,082 points, after the US stock market closed flat on a stalemate in fiscal stimulus talks.
The broader All Ordinaries index (^AORD) opened 0.66 per cent lower at 10:17 AEST to 6,220.50 points.
One Australian dollar was buying 71.87 US cents at 10:23 AEST, up from 71.7 US cents at the previous close.
All sectors opened lower, bar consumer discretionary and health care, which opened 0.14 per cent and 0.16 per cent higher respectively.
Information technology was the worst performing sector, down by 1.17 per cent, followed by financials and industrials, down 1.14 per cent and 1 per cent respectively.
This week, investors will be keeping an eye on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s meeting minutes, as well as earnings reports from Coles, BHP, Westpac and ANZ.
JB Hi-Fi recorded a 33.2 per cent increase in profits, with the pandemic resulting in more Aussies working, learning and entertaining themselves from home.
What happened over the weekend?
Wall Street finished flat on Friday, with investors balancing a solid July retail sales report with a stalemate in fiscal stimulus talks.
The US-China video conference to review progress on the trade deal was also postponed, with no details as to why. However, reports show officials wanted more time to allow China to increase its purchases of US products.
The S&P500 finished flat to 3,372.85 points, the Dow Jones finished 1.12 per cent higher to 27,931.02 points while the Nasdaq finished 0.21 per cent lower to 11,019.20 points.
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