Australia Market falls 0.54%

Headline indices of the Australian financial market closed down for first time in six consecutive session on Tuesday, 22 January 2019, as investors elected to book recent gains on concerns about the global outlook, after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed its world economic growth forecast on Monday for the next two years, warning of continuing trade tensions between the two nations on global growth, and the possibility of a "no-deal" Brexit between the UK and the European Union. At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index declined 31.59 points, or 0.54%, to 5,858.79 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index dropped 29.25 points, or 0.5%, to 5,924.28 points.

The International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for the world economy, predicting it will grow at the weakest pace in three years in 2019 and warning fresh trade tensions would spell further trouble. In its second downgrade in three months, the lender blamed softening demand across Europe and recent palpitations in financial markets. It predicts global growth of 3.5% this year, beneath the 3.7% expected in October and the rate in 2018.

 

Shares of consumer discretionary sector were the star performer, with Aristocrat Leisure up 3.2% and Super Retail up 2.8%. Flight Centre was up 2.2% followed by Breville up 1.5%.

Shares in financial sector were the heaviest weight on the ASX market led by Westpac Banking down by 1.72%. ANZ fell by 1.5%, Commonwealth Bank was down 1.2% and NAB shed 1.3%.

Shares in materials issue declined, with giant BHP dropping by 1.3% after releasing their quarterly update detailing their iron ore output had fallen by 9% due to production disruptions. The world's biggest miner said on Tuesday that unplanned production outages at Olympic Dam, Spence and Western Australia Iron Ore are likely to negatively affect productivity and flagged that it would revise guidance at its results on February 19. Rio Tinto retreated 0.6%, Newcrest Mining fell 0.7% and South32 dropped 0.9%.

Shares of energy companies were also under pressure, with Oilsearch down 2.8% followed by Santos down 0.8% and Woodside Petroleum down 0.8%.

CURRENCY: Australian Dollar softened against greenback and against a basket of other peers on Tuesday. The Australian dollar was quoted at 71.36 US cents from 71.69 US cents on Monday.

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