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ASX closes 1.3% lower to hit a six-month low

PUBLISHED

2023-10-03

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The Australian sharemarket hit a six-month low on Tuesday, driven by a US Treasury sell-off influenced by the US Federal Reserve's hawkish messaging, despite the Reserve Bank's decision to maintain the cash rate at 4.1%. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 1.3% to 6943.4, its lowest level since March 21, with most industry groups in decline, particularly energy and mining sectors, while the All Ordinaries dropped 94.5 points to 7141.

Futures

The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 85 points.

The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 9.75 points.

The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 39.25 points.

The SPI futures are down 106 points.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector was Health Care, up 0.24 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Energy, down 3.69 per cent.

The best-performing large cap was Meridian Energy (ASX:MEZ), closing 2.97 per cent higher at $4.85. It was followed by shares in CSL (ASX:CSL) and Aristocrat Leisure (ASX:ALL).

The worst-performing large cap was Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN), closing 5.01 per cent lower at $64.15. It was followed by shares in Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN) and Allkem (ASX:AKE).

Asian markets

Japan's Nikkei has lost 1.65 per cent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng has lost 3.26 per cent.

China's Shanghai Composite has gained 0.67 per cent.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,835.40 an ounce.

Iron ore is 0.1 per cent higher at US$119.90 a tonne.

Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.88 per cent rise.

Light crude is trading $0.70 lower at US$88.12 a barrel.

One Australian dollar is buying 63.16 US cents.

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