The Australian sharemarket traded lower on Monday, with declines in energy and consumer staples outweighing gains in technology stocks as investors positioned ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s policy decision.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 32.7 points or 0.4% to 8,697.1, with eight of the 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. Trading volumes were lighter due to public holidays in Queensland and the Northern Territory.
The Consumer Staples sector lead losses on the day, with Endeavour Group, dropping 3.8% after issuing a weaker-than-expected trading update. The company also pointed to rising input costs linked to the Middle East conflict.
The a2 Milk Company shed 9.9% after announcing a voluntary recall of three batches of its United States-labelled a2 Platinum infant formula, following the detection of cereulide, a toxin associated with foodborne illness, in products sold in the United States.
Supermarket giants also moved lower, with Coles falling 3.9% and Woolworths down 0.8%, while Graincorp dipped 2.9% and Inghams lost 4.4%.
Energy stocks weakened amid mixed signals from the Middle East. President Donald Trump said the United States would begin guiding neutral vessels stranded in the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, although uncertainty around the broader conflict continued to weigh on the sector.
Santos fell 1.4%, Woodside Energy lost 3.1%, Beach Energy dipped 2.1% and Ampol traded 1.5% lower.
Viva Energy fell 3.2% after confirming it is targeting a June restart of a key unit at its Geelong refinery following a fire last month. The company said production is expected to return to above 90% of capacity once repairs are completed.
In contrast, the technology sector outperformed, tracking record highs on Wall Street after strong earnings from major tech companies.
Xero gained 2.9%, TechnologyOne lifted 0.3%, and Life360 gained 6.2%, while WiseTech Global edged 0.6% lower.
Meanwhile, Accent Group tumbling 12.9% after issuing a sharper-than-expected downgrade to its full-year earnings guidance and announcing it is under investigation by the corporate regulator.
On the bond markets, yields moved lower, with the 10-year government bond yield falling 0.6% to 4.986%, while the 2-year yield slipped 0.2% to 4.693%.
