Investors were cautiously awaiting a speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell at the annual Jackson Hole symposium later today in global day for clues about its approach to roll back the US central bank's stimulus measures after comments from three of the US Federal Reserve's non-voting regional Presidents -Esther George, Robert Kaplan and James Bullard -urging the central bank to start tapering its asset purchase program.
At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down 2.94 points, or 0.04%, to 7,488.29. The broader All Ordinaries dropped 10.32 points, or 0.13%, to 7,760.07.
Total 5 of 11 sectors ended lower along with the S&P/ASX 200 Index. Industrials was the best performing sector, gaining +1.07%, while consumer discretionary was the worst performing sector, losing 1.6%.
Lynas Rare Earths, the world's biggest rare earths miner outside China, slumped 4.3 percent after a warning about over-investment. The miner announced a 60% increase in revenue to $489 million and net profit for the year of $157.1 million, from $19.4m a year ago. LYC decided against paying a final dividend to shareholders.
Retail conglomerate Wesfarmers lost 2.8 percent after warning that recent lockdowns had hammered sales across its divisions. WES enjoyed a 40% lift in net profit from continuing operations to $2.38 billion with revenue also lifting 10% to $33.9 billion. The group continued to enjoy solid sales and earnings growth from Officeworks, Bunnings and Kmart Group and is also paying a special $2 per share dividend to return ~$2.3 billion to investors.
CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7252, up around 0.25%.
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