Following an overnight tech crash on the Nasdaq, which had a significant impact on the national benchmark, the Australian stock market fell on Wednesday.
To close at 7,153.9 points, the S & P/ASX 200 lost 53 points, or 0.7%. The All Ordinaries index, which is more inclusive, performed the worst, falling by 57.3 points, or 0.8%, to 7,345.6 points.
Real estate and industrial stocks also suffered losses, falling 1.2 percent each, as tech stocks had their worst session for September.
IT behemoths Wisetech and Xero experienced declines of 2.2% and 1.4%, respectively, as local traders followed Wall Street developments.
The Nasdaq overnight decline was followed by the subpar performance of IT equities. After revealing that its revenue for the most recent quarter was barely below analysts’ expectations, software giant Oracle contributed to the decline in tech stocks.
After revealing the newest iterations of its phones and other devices, Apple’s stock fell 1.8%.
After crude oil prices rose 2% to a near 10-month high on Tuesday, energy stocks defied the benchmark’s overall losses and ended up only 0.1% higher. New projections from OPEC+ and the US released overnight indicated a tighter supply scenario going forward.
West Texas Intermediate crude increased $1.55, or 1.8%, to $88.84 a barrel, while Brent futures increased $1.42, or 1.6%.
Utility prices increased by 0.2%.
powerhouse in the energy sector Santos increased by 0.7% to $7.77, Beach Energy increased by 0.5% to $1.60, and Woodside increased by 0.5% to $37.88.
The benchmark’s poorest performer was the lithium miner IGO, whose shares lost 7.7% of their value and dropped to $13.15 per share after the firm traded ex-dividend.
The controversy at Qantas persisted as the High Court denied an appeal about a 2022 Federal Court ruling that claimed the airline had broken the law by terminating about 1700 employees during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Qantas shares fell 0.2% to $5.57 a share, hoping to bring an eventful few weeks to a close. The airline may be subject to fines and compensation orders totaling more than $200 million.
Following the announcement that it will sell its consumer products unit to paints major Dulux, small-cap Pental, which sells home cleaning products, soared by 30.2%. The contract is worth $60 million.
The response of the markets to the new iPhone was sour. Stocks dropped 2% as Apple announced the device’s 15th edition.
The US CPI statistics for August, which will be announced later this evening, will be carefully watched by traders.