The Australian sharemarket opened slightly lower, weighed down by energy and tech stocks, after global sentiment soured on fresh signs of a slowdown in the US economy.
A softer-than-expected July non-farm payrolls report spurred concerns about the world’s largest economy. Just 73,000 jobs were added during the month – well short of the 100,000 forecast by economists.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.1 per cent, or 11.90 points, to 8650.10 at 10.15am AEST, with seven of the 11 sectors trading lower. Energy led the declines as Brent crude fell below $US70 a barrel on concerns about the US outlook. Woodside dropped 1.9 per cent and Ampol fell 1.1 per cent.
Tech stocks also slumped, with NextDC down 2.1 per cent and WiseTech Global falling 1.7 per cent as it completed its largest-ever acquisition: the $US2.1 billion ($3.25 billion) purchase of Texas-based e2Open.
Gold jumped 2.3 per cent to $US3359.20 an ounce after the sharp slowdown in US jobs growth raised expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts as early as September. Newmont rose 0.5 per cent, Northern Star rallied 3.3 per cent, and Evolution Mining climbed 3 per cent.
Major miners BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals were all modestly higher, up about 0.3 per cent.
Stocks in focus
In company news, Santos edged down 0.1 per cent after signing a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Engie to supply natural gas from the Narrabri Gas Project to the east coast domestic market.
Endeavour Group jumped 3.7 per cent after executive chairman Ari Mervis resigned over board disagreements. Lead independent director Duncan Makeig was named interim chair, while CFO Kate Beattie was appointed interim chief executive until Jayne Hrdlicka formally starts on January 1.
Beach Energy rallied 4 per cent despite posting a $43.8 million full-year net loss, driven by a previously flagged impairment on its Western Australian and Victorian assets.
BlueScope Steel dropped 0.8 per cent after saying the international consortium it formed to potentially buy Whyalla steelworks and associated iron ore mines will closely assess return-on-investment hurdles in the next phase of the process.