Australia’s share market has started the week slightly lower, after a big four bank and a drinks giant missed earnings expectations.
The S&P/ASX200 fell 17.2 points by midday on Monday, down 0.2 per cent, to 8,712.6, as the broader All Ordinaries dipped 13.7 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 8,941.
The dip followed another record-breaking session on Wall Street on Friday, as investors mulled mixed news from the Persian Gulf energy crisis.
“News that the Trump administration has instructed the military to escort trapped tankers through the Strait of Hormuz … has seen crude gap lower,” Capital.com senior market analyst Kyle Rodda said.
“The move by the US amounts to a small kick of the can down the road, with energy markets still heading in the direction of a looming supply cliff with the Strait blockaded.”
Local energy stocks dropped more than two per cent by midday, tracking with a slip in oil prices since Friday’s ASX close, dragging Woodside (-3.0 per cent) and Santos (-1.6 per cent) lower.
Refinery operators Ampol and Viva also fell, as Viva flagged its Geelong refinery should return to 90 per cent output capacity from June, following a major fire in April.
Coal miners were broadly lower and uranium stocks rebounded modestly from the previous week’s sell-off.
The heavyweight financials sector was in the red, as NAB shares tumbled 1.7 per cent to $39.16 after its $2.8 billion first-half statutory net profit missed expectations, joining ANZ as the second big four bank to disappoint investors this reporting season.
Westpac, which traded flat, will hand down its interim results on Tuesday.
Commonwealth Bank shares slipped 0.2 per cent to $172.67.
ASX-listed miners were a mixed bag, with basic materials rising 0.2 per cent thanks to a decent 0.5 per cent lead from BHP to $55.23.
The gold sub-sector edged 0.3 per cent higher as the precious metal hovered near $US4,606 ($A6,392) an ounce.
Rare earths and battery minerals producers were under pressure, with Lynas and Liontown down 2.4 per cent and 5.5 per cent respectively.
Consumer staples tumbled 1.7 per cent, after earnings from Dan Murphy’s and BWS owner Endeavour came in slightly softer-than-expected.
Shares in a2 Milk tanked almost 12 per cent to $6.41 after it recalled three batches of infant milk formula in the United States due to the presence of cereulide, a toxin that can cause nausea and vomiting.
And fashion group Accent fell more than 10 per cent as it responded to an investigation by the corporate regulator and flagged a gross margin drop in a trading update.
Southern Cross Media gained 2.1 per cent to 61 cents after chair Heith Mackay-Cruise announced his retirement after a major shareholder pushed for his and two other directors’ removal.
The Australian dollar was buying 72.09 US cents, up from 71.96 US cents on Friday, ahead of what’s widely anticipated to be another interest rate hike from the Reserve Bank on Tuesday.
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