"Grey cloud" hangs over Australian market

Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-20 09:27:48|Editor: Liangyu
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SYDNEY, June 20 (Xinhua) -- The Australian market opened flat on Tuesday, despite a robust performance from Australia's trading partners as investor concerns continue about the negative outlook on Australia's economy.

At 1010 local time AEST, the S&P/ASX200 index was up 3.80 points, or 0.07 percent, to 5,809.00 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 4.40 points, or 0.08 percent, to sit at 5,839.90.

Despite the ongoing controversy surrounding the 6.2 billion Australian dollar (4.7 billion U.S. billion dollar) levy on Australian banks, the bill was passed on Monday night, and will come into effect on July 1, to the dismay of the banking sector which campaigns heavily against the tax.

Although the bank tax passed through the senate, IG market analyst Chris Weston told Xinhua on Tuesday the levy had little impact on the market on Tuesday, nor did the recent action by global credit ratings agency Moody's to downgrade 12 Australian banks.

"Financials are down, but to be honest, it's still one of the better performers. The Moody's downgrade is not a major market story, in my opinion, and the levy had already been widely priced into stocks, if investors are selling their bank stocks today (Tuesday), they are certainly very late," Weston told Xinhua.

"We have so many robust, bullish markets around us, Japan, China, Europe, and the U.S., are all looking very positive, so it's difficult to explain why we are down. There's a negative cloud hanging over the market today."

Capital may even move out of the Australia and into foreign financial markets, and Weston said investors may want to back away from the "soggy" Australian economy, and potentially move on to "more upbeat" prospects elsewhere, unless the current market situation trends upwards.

The banking sector experienced fairly flat performance in the early going, as the Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 1.14 percent, Westpac picked up 1.15 percent, the ANZ also made gains, up 0.92 percent, National Australia Bank was up 1.48 percent, and the Macquarie Group, which will have to face the bank levy alongside Australia's major banks, gained 0.74 percent.

The mining sector also experienced a quiet start to trading, BHP gained 0.04 percent, Rio Tinto was down 0.05 percent, Fortescue was up 1.28 percent, while Newcrest picked up 1.36 percent.

Among the energy giants, Santos rose 0.33 percent, but Woodside Petroleum fell 0.69 percent, and Oil Search dropped 0.44 percent.

The retail sector appeared to be struggling across the board, with Wesfarmers and Woolworths down 0.22 percent and 3.50 percent, meanwhile other prominent Australian retailers like Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, and Myer also experienced a tough start to the day.

Qantas saw modest gains of 0.18 percent, and Telstra was up 0.68 percent.

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