Australia Market ends lower; Banks, miners drag

The Australian share market finished session lower on Thursday, 19 December 2019, weighed down by weakness in healthcare, materials, energy, finance, telecommunications and consumer discretionary stocks. At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index decreased by 18.31 points, or 0.27%, to 6,833.11, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 14.43 points, or 0.21%, to 6,942.56.

The market started to fade from a better start just before lunch after the strongest jobs growth in 15 months. 39,900 jobs were added. The unemployment rate eased from 5.3% to 5.2% (lowest read since March). While this pushed equities lower and the Aussie dollar higher, most of the job gains were part time positions, it follows the loss of close to 25,000 jobs in October and the Reserve Bank is hoping for a significantly lower unemployment rate.

Heavyweight healthcare stocks weakened. CSL Ltd and Cochlear Ltd closed 1.6% and 0.9% lower, respectively.

Energy units fell, with top loser Beach Energy Ltd giving up 4.8%. Sector heavyweight Santos Ltd declined 0.9%.

Infrastructure supplier Service Stream was the standout performer, surging 11.1% to $2.71 after announcing one of its subsidiaries had been awarded a 10-year contract with the Sydney Water as part of a consortium deal.

Gold miner Northern Star Resources also enjoyed a strong day, gaining 4.7% to $10.44 following price target upgrades from analysts at Ord Minnett and J.P. Morgan.

National Australia Bank fell the most, after saying on Wednesday it had self-reported shortcomings in its anti-money laundering systems to authorities, another blow just a day after regulators filed a lawsuit against the bank over fee charges.

Afterpay (APT) slipped by 1.1% despite receiving an upgrade by a major broker, which is expecting the buy-now-pay-later company's shares to lift by another 30% over the next 12 months.

Lynas (LYC) fell by 1.3%. The Western Australian government however has backed plans for LYC to build a new processing plant by 2023. The rare earth minerals miner is up 52% Year-to-Date.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Australia Unemployment Rate At 5.2% In November-- Australia unemployment rate came in at a seasonally adjusted 5.2% in November, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday, as compared to 5.3% from the October reading. The Australian economy added 39,900 jobs last month to 12,954,400, following the loss of 19,000 jobs a month earlier. Full-time employment increased by 4,200 to 8,837,300 people and part-time employment increased by 35,700 to 4,117,200 people. The participation rate remained steady at 66%.

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