The sharemarket experienced a significant decline as anticipation grew for the US Federal Reserve to delay immediate rate cuts, compounded by political uncertainty stemming from far-right gains in European elections and concerns about the bloc’s future. The S&P/ASX 200 and All Ordinaries both dropped 1.3%, with materials and interest-rate-sensitive property stocks leading the sell-off, while gold miners suffered losses due to a drop in gold prices and reports of China’s central bank delaying gold purchases, with investors cautious ahead of key US consumer price data and the Fed’s rate announcement.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 16 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a rise of 0.75 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 2 points.
The SPI futures are down 73 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector was Consumer Discretionary, up 0.11 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Materials, down 2.58 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was Mercury NZ (ASX:MCY), closing 6.72 per cent higher at $6.35. It was followed by shares in Meridian Energy (ASX:MEZ) and Pro Medicus (ASX:PME).
The worst-performing large cap was Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN), closing 6.47 per cent lower at $3.76. It was followed by shares in Atlas Arteria (ASX:ALX) and South32 (ASX:S32).
Asian markets
Japan’s Nikkei has gained 0.19 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 1.08 per cent.
China’s Shanghai Composite has gained 0.35 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2,317.80 an ounce.
Light crude is trading $0.07 lower at US$77.67 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 66.06 US cents.