The Australian sharemarket extended losses for the third consecutive session on Thursday as investors adjusted to fading hopes of further rate cuts from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) following yesterday's hotter-than-expected quarterly inflation figures.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 40.7 points, or 0.5%, to close at 8,885.5, with seven of the 11 industry sectors ending lower.
According to the RBA Rate Tracker, the probability of a rate cut to 3.35% fell sharply to 39%, down from 62% the day before, signalling a decisive shift in market expectations.
Rate-sensitive sectors bore the brunt of the sell-off. Consumer discretionary stocks led losses, with Wesfarmers tumbling 7.1% after warning of narrowing profit margins and softening sales.
Electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi slipped 5.1%, despite maintaining 6% sales growth in its Australian division for the September quarter.
Property stocks also extended declines as expectations for lower interest rates receded.
Goodman Group lost 1.3%, Charter Hall dipped 1.7%, Mirvac fell 3.8% and Stockland shed 3.4%.
Among company updates, Coles shares dropped 2.6% after the retailer’s September-quarter sales slightly missed market forecasts, despite a 3.9% rise in total group revenue.
Supermarket sales climbed 4.8% to $9.97 billion, outpacing Woolworths’ 2.1% growth reported a day earlier. Woolworths shares gained 3.3% in response.
Mineral Resources surged 13.7% after reporting record iron ore shipments and better-than-expected earnings.
James Hardie Industries fell 3.1% after shareholders voted to remove chair Anne Lloyd and two directors, Rada Rodriguez and Peter-John Davis, from the board.
Ampol shed 2.4% despite posting a strong September-quarter update, with refining margins at its Lytton refinery jumping to US$10.64 a barrel from just $1.48 a year earlier.
On the bond markets, 10-year Australian government yields rose 1.2% to 4.311%, while two-year yields edged down 0.6% to 3.583%.
