COVID jitters set the Australian sharemarket up for early losses and a dour jobs report weighed it down further as investors recoiled at economic damage wrought by coronavirus lockdowns.
The ASX has fallen again. Credit:AAP
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 finished 55.3 points, or 0.9 per cent, lower at 5936.5 on Thursday after it was revealed another 227,000 jobs were lost in May to push the unemployment rate to a worse than expected 7.1 per cent, the highest since 2001.
The index slipped by as much as 1.7 per cent in the wake of the report but, in truth, the platform was already set for a weak session.
Wall Street investors had taken their foot off the accelerator amid fluctuating commodities prices and a persistent rise in coronavirus cases that has stoked fears of a second wave.
“You can say the numbers are small, but they always start off small,” Betashares ETF Chief economist David Bassanese said
“It’s not about whether we get a second wave, but whether can they ccan contain it without having to lock down the economy again.”
A three-session run of gains ended in the US as familiar trade niggles with China also began to resurface. Global sentiment has also been shaken by tensions between China and India, and between North and South Korea.
“So the (May) jobs figures were bad, but I think the market was already on the back foot,” Mr Bassanese said.
“When you’ve got growing global concerns about a second wave of the pandemic… the jobs figures are just on top of that.”
There were 42 companies higher and 151 lower as the market shed $16 billion from its market cap on Thursday. Volumes were roughly on par with the past two weeks of trade.
Miners weighed heavily throughout the session following news Brazilian iron ore rival Vale SA was allowed to resume operations at a COVID-shuttered facility.
BHP dropped 0.9 per cent to $35.69, Rio Tinto shed 1.3 per cent to $97.61, and Fortescue Metals lost 4.2 per cent to $14.
The heavyweight financials also disappointed with NAB’s 0.95 per cent decline to $18.78 reading losses for the big four banks. Macquarie Group lost 1 per cent to $119.78.
Other heavyweight declines included a 0.44 per cent drop for blood giant CSL, a 1.3 per cent loss for Wesfarmers, and a 1 per cent fall for Woolworths.
ResMed and Coles were the biggest firms to post a daily gain, up 1.8 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively.
It was a huge day for payment platforms, with Afterpay touching a new intra-day high of $59.64, Splitit more than doubling its share price to $1.375 on a deal with Mastercard, and Pushpay up 9 per cent on upgraded guidance.
A2 Milk also set a new record high, touching $20.05 cents in early trade.
Despite falling on Thursday, the ASX 200 is still ahead 1.5 per cent in a week that started with a huge decline.
Mr Bassanese said the longer the market takes to reclaim its recent three-month peak, the more it suggests a consolidation is at play.
“The longer it takes, the more it suggests we could pull back even further, or move in a sideways direction,” he said.
Major Asian markets were mixed and US futures were pointing to a subdued session tonight.