Australia Market edges down

The Australia stock market were edge lower late afternoon after recouping early losses on Thursday, 16 August 2018, as gain in financials, consumer staples and telecommunication services sectors helped to offset losses in materials and energy sectors. Around late afternoon trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 7.22 points, or 0.11%, to 6,321.80. The broader All Ordinaries Index declined 8.77 points, or 0.14%, to 6,406.90.

In the financial space, Shares of QBE rose 7% after the insurer said its first-half net profit rose, helped by an improved performance in several regions and a more streamlined structure after offloading several of its businesses over the past year. Insurance Australia Group rose 2.1% on bargain hunting after declining 5.8% in the previous session. Among lenders, ANZ Banking, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank were lower in a range of 0.2% to 1%, while National Australia Bank was edging up 0.1%.

In the telecom space, Telstra shares rose almost 5% despite telecom giant said its full-year profit declined 8% on flat revenues and projects challenging trading conditions to continue this year.

Shares of material and energy companies were down, weighed down by fall in Chinese iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange and crude oil prices. Among miners, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, and South32, Fortescue Metals declined in a range of 1-2.5%. Among energy stocks, Oil Search, and Woodside Petroleum declined in a range of 1-2%. Origin Energy weakened as much as 8%, leading losses in the energy sector after underlying earnings of its energy markets business fell short of the its expectations.

Among individual stocks: Sonic Healthcare's shares rose more than 1% despite the international pathology and radiology services group reporting an 11% increase in full-year profit.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday that the unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 5.3 percent in July 2018, which would have been unchanged from June. The Australian economy shed 3,900 jobs last month following the gain of 50,900 in the previous month.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar was virtually flat against greenback and other major currencies. The Australia dollar was quoted at US$0.7228, compared to US$0.7230 on Wednesday.

OFFSHORE MARKET NEWS, US stock market closed down on Wednesday on renewed concerns about Turkey after the Turkish government announced an increase in tariffs on American cars, alcohol and cigarettes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 137.51 points or 0.5% to 25,162.41 and the S&P 500 slid 21.59 points or 0.8% to 2,818.37. The Nasdaq tumbled 96.78 points or 1.2% to 7,774.12,

The major European markets also closed down on Wednesday. The French CAC 40 Index dropped 1.8%, the German DAX Index tumbled by 1.6%, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dropped 1.5%.

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