PERTH: The sharemarket has pared back some losses after the open, as regional investors await the outcome of Japan’s monthly central bank meeting.
At 12.05pm (AEDT), the benchmark S & P/ASX200 index was down 48.8 points, or 0.93 per cent, to 5218.1 while the broader All Ordinaries had eased 44 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 5266.2.
The benchmark had sunk 1.07 per cent at the market open, as investors rushed out of blue-chip stocks following a string of disappointing earnings and trading updates, most notably Woolworths’ yesterday.
The local market was also following soggy global sharemarkets after European stocks fell and Wall Street edged down as investors digested the Federal Reserve’s post-rate decision statement, which hinted at a December return to long-awaited rate rises.
Meanwhile, markets today were awaiting the Bank of Japan’s latest monetary policy move, with easing considered a possibility. The central bank was set to announce its decision around 3pm (AEDT).
“The range of possibilities for BOJ action looks wide and markets go into this decision with considerable uncertainty,” CMC Markets chief analyst Ric Spooner said.
Meanwhile, iron ore price slid to a fresh three-and-a-half-month trough.
The commodity slumped 1 per cent to $US49.00 a tonne, with a near three-week run of losses forcing it close to a 10-year low.
In economic news, Reserve Bank of Australia data today showed private sector credit grew faster than expected in September, up 0.8 per cent against expectation of a 0.5 per cent lift.
Materials were off 1.4 per cent.
BHP Billiton was down 1.66 per cent to $23.08 while Rio Tinto had lost 0.61 per cent to $50.83. Whitehaven Coal was off 0.97 per cent to $1.025 after it reaffirmed full-year production guidance.
Consumer staples again led the declines, off 1.95 per cent with Woolworths extending yesterday’s sell-off, down 2.31 per cent at $24.13.
Wesfarmers fell 1.87 per cent to $39.43.
