The Australian share market finished 0.32% lower on Monday as the ‘Santa Claus’ rally ran out of steam.
The S&P/ASX 200 index ended at 8,235 points, down 26.8, after opening at the day’s high of 8,261.8, trading as low as 8,184.2, and recovering some losses midway through the afternoon.
Nine of the 11 ASX sectors finished in the red, led by real estate investment trusts (REITs) which were dragged down 1.76%, while energy defied the trend with a 1.14% rise.
Among the REITS to lose ground were GPT (ASX: GPT), which was down 3.7%, and Dexus (ASX: DXS), which finished 3.7% lower on the day.
Energy stocks to finish higher included Woodside Energy (ASX: WDS), which was up 0.1%, Santos (ASX: STO) 1.7% and Ampol (ASX: ALD) 1.3%.
The sell-off ended hopes of share prices rising over the last five sessions of December and the first two of January, a trend witnessed enough to be dubbed the Santa rally.
The S&P/ASX 200 has risen 8.49% in the year to date, helped by a 2.08% increase over the last five days, and is 3.28% off its 52 week high.
The Australian dollar continued to weaken against the US dollar, trading at US$0.6209 at 4:50 pm AEDT (GMT 5.55 am), down 0.16% on the day and bringing the five day drop 0.45%.
Bond prices followed equities down, with yields on 10-year and 2-year Australian Government paper rising 0.88% and 0.85% to 4.463% and 3.923% respectively by 5.10pm AEDT (6.10am GMT).
At the same time the Australian dollar was trading 0.56% higher at US$0.62459.
