ASX stages cautious comeback after Monday’s bloodbath
Australian investors have staged a cautious comeback after Monday’s blockbuster wipe-out, pushing the local benchmark index higher after an overnight retreat on Wall Street that, while savage, was not as deep as feared.
The ASX200 opened 0.7 per cent higher but had pared gains to just 0.4 per cent after the first 30 minutes to be up 30.9 points to 7680.5 just after 9am.
Financial, consumer discretionary, real estate, industrial and mining stocks all enjoyed early buying, but energy, health care, telcos and consumer staples remained in negative territory.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Perth-based Woodside was among the early casualties, dropping almost 5 per cent as investors fret over two recent multibillion-dollar US acquisitions.
A weaker than expected US payrolls report for July had already started a Wall Street sell-off on Friday when investor bets for a Federal Reserve September rate cut suddenly doubled to 50 basis points. The jobs data had followed disappointing earnings updates from some megacap US technology companies.
However US stocks pared losses somewhat after the Institute for Supply Management overnight Monday that services sector activity rebounded from a four-year low in July with rising orders and employment, easing recession fears.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1033.99 points, or 2.60 per cent, to 38,703.27, the S&P 500 lost 160.23 points, or 3 per cent, to 5186.33 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 576.08 points, or 3.43 per cent, to 16,200.08.
CBOE’s volatility index, known as Wall Street’s fear gauge, logged its largest intraday jump before ending the day at 38.57 points for its highest close since October 2020.
More to come
