In the first session of the week, the Australian sharemarket is experiencing a decline, primarily driven by weakness in mining and communications stocks. By midday, the S&P/ASX 200 index is down 0.3 per cent, hovering near 8067 points. The downturn in the local market contrasts with the S&P 500, which ended its last session on a positive note due to resilient US consumer data. REA Group is significantly impacting the index, falling 7 per cent amid news of a potential bid for UK-listed Rightmove, contributing to a 1.4 per cent drop in the communications sector. Additionally, gold miners like Perseus Mining and Red 5 have declined by over 5 per cent following a weekend drop in gold prices. The iron ore price falling below $US100 per tonne has also negatively affected major miners such as BHP, Fortescue, and Rio Tinto.
The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 19 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector is Energy, up 0.56 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Telcos, down 1.47 per cent.
The best-performing large cap is Ampol (ASX:ALD), trading 1.87 per cent higher at $29.47. It is followed by shares in Aurizon Holdings (ASX:AZJ) and Amcor (ASX:AMC).
The worst-performing large cap is Rea Group (ASX:REA), trading 7.16 per cent lower at $203.31. It is followed by shares in Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) and Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:TLX).
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2535.40 an ounce.
Iron ore is 1.0 per cent lower at US$100.25 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 2.2 per cent fall.
One Australian dollar is buying 67.72 US cents.