Consumer, energy sectors drag Australian shares lower; investors await growth data

Published on 09/02/2025 at 03:08 am EDT
(Updates to close)

• ASX 200 end three consecutive sessions in red
• Woolworths and Wesfarmers drop on ex-dividend trading
• Q2 GDP data awaited

(Reuters) - Australian shares ended lower in thin trading on Tuesday, dragged by consumer and energy sectors in which heavyweight constituents traded ex-dividend, as local traders stayed on the sidelines ahead of economic growth data due later in the week.
The S&P/ASX 200 index slipped 0.3% to 8,900.6 points, marking its third straight session in the red. Monday's 0.5% decline followed strong gains in August.
Consumer stocks lost 1.7%, with grocer Woolworths falling 3.1%. Conglomerate Wesfarmers also slipped 2.9%, ranking among the top laggards in the consumer discretionary sub index, which was down nearly 2%.
Both stocks were trading ex-dividend.
Energy stocks lost 0.5% as oil and gas major Santos shed 1.4% after going ex-dividend.
Healthcare stocks lost 0.8% after biotech firm CSL fell nearly 1% to its lowest level since mid-June 2019.
CSL, one of the country's largest companies, has tanked over 23% since August 19, weighing heavily on the healthcare sub-index and overall benchmark, after it announced plans to spin off its influenza vaccine division and cut up to 15% of its workforce.
Investors continue to desert the ASX200 healthcare sector after August and are moving into the financial sector for some refuge, said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG.
Rate-sensitive financials rose 0.4%, with three among the 'Big Four' banks rising between 0.8% and 1%, helping arrest some losses.
Markets now await the country's second-quarter gross domestic product data on Wednesday to better gauge the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) monetary policy stance.
An in-line GDP "will support the case for further easing ... as it reaffirms the idea that the Australian economy is growing at a pace significantly below its potential growth rate of 2.5%-3%", Sycamore added.
Market swaps are currently pricing over an 80% probability that the RBA will hold rates steady later this month.
Miners advanced 0.1% and gold stocks climbed 0.4% tracking higher commodity prices.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.5% to 13,133.16 points, posting its fourth consecutive session of gains.
( Reporting by Kumar Tanishk in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman )

Sumber : Reuters