A late plunge on the share market has sent it to a fourth straight day of falls.
The market was trading in positive territory for most of Tuesday’s session, but ultimately losses across the resources, health care and retail sectors more than offset gains in energy and utilities.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell 0.2 per cent despite the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting a record high leading into the local session.
CommSec market analyst Steven Daghlian said investors were “treading water” ahead of US President Donald Trump’s speech to joint session of Congress, due to begin at 1300 AEDT on Wednesday.
“There are expectations that he could provide some details about spending plans on infrastructure and information on tax cuts,” he said.
Chinese manufacturing and services data, and local December quarter economic growth figures, will also be released on Wednesday, which could determine the direction of the market in the afternoon, Mr Daghlian said.
“Tomorrow’s going to be a pretty big day.”
Gold miners were among the worst performers, with Newcrest dropping four per cent, while Rio Tinto shed 0.8 per cent and BHP Billiton edged one cent higher.
Among health stocks, Cochlear, Ramsay Health Care and Sonic Healthcare lost ground, and Healthscope was among the worst performers, dropping 1.8 per cent.
Woolworths pulled the consumer staples index lower, falling 1.6 per cent.
Mr Daghlian said the energy sector’s strength was mainly driven by WorleyParsons after it was revealed that Dubai-based Dar Group had bought a 13.35 per cent stake in the engineering and project management firm.
WorleyParsons also confirmed Dar Group submitted an indicative proposal to acquire the company in November, which was rebuffed by the board.
WorleyParsons gained $2.58, or 32 per cent, to $10.65.
Harvey Norman and Spotless Group were among the companies that posted mixed earnings results as the local reporting season drew to a close.
Harvey Norman gained three cents higher to $5.15 after posting a record first-half underlying profit thanks to strong demand for furniture and electrical goods.
Spotless dropped 13.7 per cent to 82 cents after the cleaning and catering company swung to a $358 million half year loss.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down 12 points, or 0.21 per cent, at 5,712.2 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 12.8 points, or 0.22 per cent, at 5,761 points.
* The March SPI200 futures contract was down nine points at 5,684 points, with 39,613 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 4.3 billion securities traded, worth $8.4 billion.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1700 AEDT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 76.86 US cents, from 76.92 US cents on Monday
* 86.45 Japanese yen, from 86.28 yen
* 72.55 euro cents, from 72.79 euro cents
* 61.78 British pence, from 61.86 pence
* 106.85 New Zealand cents, from 106.84 NZ cents
GOLD:
The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEDT was $US1,254.05 per fine ounce, down $US3.55 from $US1,257.60 on Monday.
BOND SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEDT:
* CGS 5.25 per cent March 2019, 1.803pct, from 1.796pct
* CGS 4.25pct April 2026, 2.681pct, from 2.662pct
Sydney Futures Exchange prices:
* March 2017 10-year bond futures contract at 97.245 (implying a yield of 2.755pct), down from 97.26 (implying a yield of 2.74pct) on Monday
* March 2017 3-year bond futures contract at 98.01 (1.99pct), down from 98.02 (1.98pct) on Monday
(*Currency closes taken at 1700 AEDT previous local session, bond market closes taken at 1630 AEDT previous local session)
