The Australian sharemarket fell on Tuesday, tracking weakness across European markets, as rising oil prices amid the conflict in the Middle East and elevated bond yields weighed on investor sentiment.
The S&P/ASX 200 lost 90.1 points, or 1.0%, to 8,920.8, with eight of the 11 sectors finishing lower.
Consumer discretionary led the declines, with JB Hi-Fi shedding 2.3%, Domino’s Pizza Enterprises losing 2.4% and Wesfarmers falling 2.7%.
The Information Technology sector also came under pressure, with Xero down 2.6%, TechnologyOne falling 1.8%, WiseTech Global losing 2.8%, and NEXTDC finishing 1.8% lower.
Financial stocks declined, with Commonwealth Bank falling 1.8%, Westpac dipping 1.3%, National Australia Bank losing 1.5%, and ANZ Group retreating 2.6%.
Australian real estate investment trusts also weakened. Goodman Group fell 1.7%, Charter Hall declined 1.7%, Mirvac lost 1.6%, and Stockland fell 3%.
Among data releases, the total value of Australia’s residential dwellings fell 0.3% to A$12.7 trillion in the June quarter, marking the first quarterly decline since September 2022, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Australian business confidence fell two points to -8 index points in August, marking its second consecutive monthly decline and remaining below its long-run average of 5 points.
The decline came despite confidence recovering much of its initial fall following the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, according to NAB’s latest monthly business survey.
On the bond markets, the 10-year yield fell 0.4% to 5.196%, while the two-year yield declined 0.8% to 4.811%.
