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The Australian sharemarket languished at midday near a two-month low struck early in the session, after the banks again drew heavy selling. At the 12pm (AEST), the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index had lost 37.2 points, or 0.81 per cent, to 5348.6, while the broader All Ordinaries index slipped 34.8 points, to 5449.8. The action leaves the market on track for its fourth straight weekly decline. IG chief market strategist Chris Weston said the key influence for the day was from Europe, with the lack of action from ECB chief Mario Draghi leaving investors dissatisfied. “Mario Draghi and the European Central Bank gave traders and investors absolutely nothing new to work with,” he said. “This seems quite bizarre given they have lowered their inflation forecasts for 2017 to 1.2 per cent and while this is a mere rounding issue from its June forecast of 1.3 per cent, it simply pulls it further from their inflation mandate. “So, we have actually been left with more questions than certainties around ECB policy.” Such questions weighed heavily on the banks, with Westpac leading the big four lower as it shed 1.12 per cent to $29.70. Commonwealth Bank retreated 1.05 per cent to $71.30, while ANZ gave up 0.85 per cent to $26.85 and National Australia Bank stepped back 1.05 per cent to $27.38. Miners were also badly bruised, with BHP Billiton slumping 2.05 per cent to $20.68 and rival Rio Tinto sliding 1.29 per cent to $48.64. In the energy sector, Origin was a rare bright spot, making 5.6 per cent to $5.42 after announcing the replacement of veteran chief executive Grant King. Meanwhile, Woodside Petroleum shed 0.43 per cent to $28.13. In the retail sector, Woolworths slumped 2.62 per cent to $22.66. Elsewhere, blue chip Telstra backtracked 0.39 per cent to $5.09. |
