Key Points
- S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.87%, dragged down by the Utilities, A-REITs, and Consumer Discretionary sectors.
- Perpetual Ltd. (ASX:PPT), Westgold Resources Ltd. (ASX:WGX), and IDP Education Ltd. (ASX:IEL) were among the best performers.
- Flight Centre Ltd. (ASX:FLT), Corporate Travel Management Ltd. (ASX:CTD), and Omni Bridgeway Ltd. (ASX:OBL) were among the worst performers.
- Gold prices rose, while oil prices also modestly increased. AUD/USD was flat, while AUD/JPY saw slight declines.
Australia’s stock market ended the trading session lower on Friday, with the S&P/ASX 200 index dropping 0.87% or 72.70 to 8,283.20. Weakness in the Utilities, A-REITs (Australian Real Estate Investment Trusts), and Consumer Discretionary sectors dragged the index down. Investors were cautious amid global market volatility and soft performance in key sectors.
Despite the overall market decline, a few stocks posted significant gains. Perpetual Ltd. (ASX:PPT) was the session’s best performer, rising 4.63% or 0.91 points to close at 20.56. Westgold Resources Ltd. (ASX:WGX), a mining company, also performed well, gaining 4.36% or 0.13 points to finish at 3.11, reaching an all-time high. IDP Education Ltd. (ASX:IEL), a global education provider, saw its shares increase 2.15% or 0.29 points to 13.76 in late trading, benefiting from a strong demand for international education services.
On the downside, Flight Centre Ltd. (ASX:FLT) experienced the steepest drop of the session, plunging 20.44% or 4.42 points to close at 17.20, hitting a 52-week low. Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX:CTD) also posted significant losses, declining 9.50% or 1.19 points to settle at 11.33. Omni Bridgeway Ltd. (ASX:OBL), a litigation financing company, saw its shares drop 7.55% or 0.08 points to close at 0.98.
Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 629 to 439, with 395 remaining unchanged. The decline was led by weakness in consumer-related and utility companies, which struggled in response to fluctuating market dynamics and higher volatility. The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures implied volatility in S&P/ASX 200 options, rose 1.51% or 0.18 to 12.38, indicating increased market uncertainty.
In the commodities market, Gold Futures for December delivery increased by 0.69% or $18.80 to trade at $2,726.30 per troy ounce, as the demand for safe-haven assets grew amid market instability. In contrast, Crude oil for November delivery gained 0.58% or $0.41, reaching $71.08 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 0.44% or $0.33 to trade at $74.78 a barrel.
The AUD/USD was relatively unchanged in currency trading, up 0.07% at 0.67, while the AUD/JPY slipped 0.21% to 100.38. The U.S. Dollar Index Futures fell 0.14% to 103.51.
