ASX edged lower at the open, led by selling in healthcare and interest rate sensitive property stocks

The Australian sharemarket edged lower at the open, led by selling in healthcare and interest rate sensitive property stocks, as investors traded carefully ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's board meeting.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3 per cent, or 27.7 points to 8854.2 at the start of trade, with seven out of the 11 sectors in the red.
Economists say the Reserve Bank of Australia will have to revise its inflation forecasts higher after quarterly numbers came in far hotter than expected, killing off any chance of a Melbourne Cup Day rate cut. The latest inflation data showed core inflation rose 1 per cent in the September quarter, well above the RBA's own forecast of around 0.6 per cent.
Bond traders see virtually zero chance of a rate cut on Tuesday, leaving the cash rate at 3.6 per cent. The unexpected strength in the latest CPI report has upended the narrative and will likely push the RBA to acknowledge more persistent price pressures in updated forecasts to be released as part of the Statement on Monetary Policy alongside Tuesday's cash rate decision.
Perpetual's head of investment strategy, Matthew Sherwood, said governor Michele Bullock was set for a grilling at her post-meeting press conference on Tuesday.
"The governor has got a lot of questions to answer about the RBA's inflation forecasts, which at the moment look far too dovish," he said.
On the ASX, the healthcare sector was the worst performing, paced by losses in sleep apnea devices maker ResMed with the stock down 4.1 per cent. Cochlear dropped 1.1 per cent and CSL lost 0.6 per cent.
Interest rate sensitive property stocks also recorded declines, with Goodman Group down 1.7 per cent, whileScentre fell 1.4 per cent and Stockland slid 1.6 per cent.
The energy sector was one of the few sectors in the green, tracking a rise in the crude oil price. Brent Crude rose above $US65 a barrel after OPEC + said it plans to pause output increases during the first quarter after making another modest hike for next month. Woodside Energy added 0.9 per cent and Santos 0.7 per cent.
Stocks in focus
Westpac fell 0.7 per cent after the major bank reported a net profit for the year to the end of September of $6.97 billion, down 2 per cent but narrowly beating analyst expectations. The net interest margin declined by 1 basis point to 1.94 per cent, with Westpac pointing to "persistent competition" in lending and deposits.
Defence tech company DroneShield rallied 6.7 per cent following an announcement that it won a $25.3 million contract from a reseller that distributes to a customer involved in government defence in Latin America.
ASX-listed HealthCo Wellness REIT surged 10 per cent after it said that it had received all deferred rent from Healthscope after the loss-making hospital operator failed to pay rent earlier this year.
Domino's Pizza rallied 2 per cent following an announcement that it had signed a binding agreement to sell its printing subsidiary Impressu Print to marketing company IVE Group for $13.5 million.

Sumber : AFR