The Australian stock market fell despite a strong positive lead from Wall Street weighed down by travel stocks after Brisbane announced a three-day lockdown due to a surge in COVID-19 community transmission.
The S&P / ASX200 closed 0.36 percent lower at 6799.5, while the All Ordinaries Index fell 0.38 percent to 7036.4.
Ivan Tchourilov, CEO of OpenMarkets Group, said the lockdown would be a major blow to the already badly hit tourism industry, especially just before the long Easter weekend.
Flight Center fell 3.03 percent to $ 17.95, Webjet was down 2.79 percent to $ 5.57, Regional Express was down 3.17 percent to $ 1.53, Corporate Travel Management declined 1.56 percent to $ 19.58 and Qantas declined 0.78 percent to $ 5.07.
After the massive ship that blocked the Suez Canal was freed by a salvage team, ThinkMarkets Australia analyst Carl Capolingua found that the debacle put pressure on already rising shipping rates, put more pressure on supply chains, and ultimately ended Inflation would result.
“Of course there is always a plus and a minus in the markets, and we’ve seen the price of oil drop below $ 60 a barrel,” said Capolingua.
Origin Energy fell 0.85 percent to $ 4.69 and Oil Search fell 0.71 percent to $ 4.19, but Santos gained 0.7 percent to $ 7.21.
Miners performed strongly with higher commodity prices: Mineral Resources rose 2.54 percent to $ 37.94, OZ Minerals rose 2.46 percent to $ 23.33, Fortescue rose 2.13 percent to $ 20.58, BHP rose 1.75 percent to $ 45.86 and Rio Tinto 1.75 percent to $ 112.26.
“I think the materials sector could be the one to watch this week,” said Capolingua.
“There has been a retreat since the super cycle hype of raw materials reached a fever in early March.
“We don’t necessarily need a super cycle for the materials sector to do well.
“If prices stay where they are, it will be enough to drive earnings growth.”
BlueScope Steel was up 3.25 percent to $ 20.01 and its colleague Sims Metal Management was up 3.85 percent to $ 14.85.
Mr Capolingua said BlueScope, Alumina and South32 are worth keeping an eye out for an expected significant surge in construction over the next year as governments invest heavily in infrastructure projects and continue to support the housing industry.
“These sectors are important employers,” he said.
“Governments will actually try to build their economies out of recession.”
Alumina was up 2.31 percent to $ 1.77 and South32 was up 3.27 percent to $ 2.84.
AMP fell 3.35 percent to $ 1.30 after the 30-day exclusivity agreement for the proposed sale of AMP Capital to Ares Capital Management expired without a deal being sealed.
“Ares has expressed an interest in acquiring 100 percent of the private markets business. There is no certainty that a transaction will continue, ”said the troubled financial services group.
Mortgage Choice rose 62.55 percent to $ 1.91 after realestate.com.au owner REA Group made a takeover bid of $ 1.95 per share and mortgage broker $ 244 million had rated.
“Joining the REA network provides a significant opportunity to leverage his extensive digital skills and expertise, combined with access to a large and engaged consumer audience,” said Vicki Allen, Chair of Mortgage Choice.
REA Group, majority owned by News Corp, the owner of the stock, declined 1.86 percent to $ 137.45.
Poultry producer Inghams Group lost 4.72 percent to $ 3.43 after it was announced that managing director Jim Leighton had left the company and was returning to the United States for personal reasons.
He is replaced by non-executive director Andrew Reeves.
Tabcorp Holdings announced a strategic review, saying options could include the sale of its betting and media business or a split.
The review was triggered by previous unsolicited approaches to the betting and media department that were worth $ 3 billion but were not adequate, Tabcorp said.
The company’s shares fell 2.7 percent to $ 4.69.
ANZ was down 0.64 percent to $ 27.99, Commonwealth Bank was down 0.5 percent to $ 85.57, National Australia Bank was down 0.15 percent to $ 26.13, and Westpac was stable at $ 24.34.
The Australian dollar bought 76.18 US cents, 55.33 British pence and 64.67 Euro cents in afternoon trading.
