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Australia Market finishes 0.2% lower

01-Dec-23 14:58 Hrs IST

Australia stock market finished session slightly lower on Friday, 01 December 2023, snapping a three-day winning streak, as profit booking resumed after weaker than expected manufacturing data caution ahead of remarks from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later in the day.

Overall trading activities were subdued, as investors awaited remarks from Powell after hawkish statements from some Fed officials overnight led to higher interest rates in the run-up to the central bank policy meeting later this month

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index declined by 14.16 points, or 0.2%, to 7,073.18. The broader All Ordinaries index dropped by 12.58 points, or 0.17%, to 7,258.14.

Shares of energy companies closed mixed after oil prices fell overnight. Woodside and Santos fell, 0.5% and 0.1%, respectively, while Ampol (up 1%), Yancoal (up 1.4%) and Whitehaven Coal (up 1.7%) closed higher.

Materials stocks also ended mixed, with BHP up 0.1% and Fortescue up 0.8%, while Rio Tinto was down 0.1%.

ECONOMIC NEWS: The manufacturing sector in Australia continued to contract in November, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Friday with a manufacturing PMI score of 47.7. That's down from 48.2 in October and it moves further beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. Order book volumes fell in the Australian manufacturing sector for the twelfth successive month. Moreover, the pace of decline accelerated from October and was the quickest since May 2020. Foreign demand likewise deteriorated as new orders from abroad fell in November. According to survey respondents, soft domestic and global economic conditions, affected by high interest rates, weighed on demand in November. As a result of lower new orders, manufacturing production levels declined in November for the twelfth successive month. That said, the pace of contraction eased from October and was moderate overall. Firms worked through their existing orders to support production, leading to backlogged work falling at one of the fastest rates in the survey history. A lack of pressure on capacity meanwhile resulted in employment levels falling, albeit marginally, for the first time in just over three years.