SYDNEY: The Australian sharemarket opened weaker, with strong gains in oil-price related stocks more than offset by caution ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s interest rate decision this afternoon.
At the 10.15am (AEST) official market open, the benchmark S & P/ASX200 index fell 21.5 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 5185.5 points, while the broader All Ordinaries lost 20 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 5202.1 points.
Oil prices saw a third straight session of plus-5 per cent gains with US Nymex crude surging 8.8 per cent to $US49.20 while global benchmark Brent crude jumped 8.2 per cent to $US54.15.
IG chief market strategist Chris Weston said energy stocks’ outperformance on the oil price changes was not enough to see a positive open for the broader index.
“The interesting dynamic will be strong gains seen in the resource space being offset by weakness in stocks who source a larger percentage of sales domestically,” he said.
