Australia: Shares fall on Thursday as recession fears resurface

AUSTRALIAN shares fell on Thursday, with gains in the energy sector being offset by broad losses elsewhere, as investors remained on the sidelines about a potential global recession.

The S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.18 per cent at 6,815.7 points, as of 2356 GMT. The benchmark closed 1.7 per cent higher on Wednesday.

Markets globally were weighed down by new US data showing the jobs market remains hot, which bolstered ongoing hawkish talk from the US Federal Reserve officials and dwindled hopes for a pivot from a steady stream of rate hikes to fight inflation, and a likely recession as a result.

Financials fell 0.7 per cent, with three of the “Big Four” banks skidding more than 1 per cent each. Interest rate-sensitive technology stocks slipped 0.6 per cent, tracking a sell-off on tech-heavy Nasdaq index on the Wall Street.

Software firm Novonix tumbled 4.2 per cent and Megaport slipped 1.8 per cent. 

Energy was the only sector significantly in the green with a 2.1 per cent jump, as oil prices rose overnight after Opec+ agreed to its deepest cuts to production since the Covid-19 pandemic, despite a tight market and opposition to cuts from the United States and others.

Oil and gas major Woodside Energy and Santos advanced 2.5 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively. 

Appen fell 18 per cent, hitting an over five-year low, after the artificial intelligence firm said its fiscal 2022 earnings could drop as much as 84 per cent, hurt by weaker advertising revenue and a slowdown in spending by some of its major customers.

Magellan Financial Group was the biggest loser on the local bourse, tumbling 9.1 per cent to an eight-year low after the fund manager reported its funds under management plunged 11.6 per cent in September.

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Elsewhere, lithium developer Lake Resources was the biggest gainer on the local bourse, climbing nearly 10 per cent to an over two-week high on signing an offtake deal for battery grade lithium from its Kachi Project in Argentina.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index traded down 0.4 per cent at 11,135.4 points. REUTERS