The Australian sharemarket closed the week at a three-month low, tracking a global sell-off in equities that accelerated late in the week.

The ASX slipped 1.2 per cent on Friday afternoon to 8067.70, its lowest level since September. The index was down 2.8 per cent this week in a broad sell-off, delaying an anticipated Santa rally for the sharemarket.

The index closed with only three sectors – energy, utilities and technology – in the green, while consumer discretionary stocks and financials led losses.

The sell-off came after the US Federal Reserve reined in the number of cuts it expects to make in 2025, from three to two, earlier in the week. Fed chairman Jerome Powell warned of a more cautious approach to rate cuts and pointed to ongoing reinflation risk.

Spooked traders hit the sell button in Australia, where investors were more bearish.

Australia’s big banks all lost ground. Commonwealth Bank closed at $150.26, down 3.7 per cent.

Wesfarmers also dragged the index lower, falling 5 per cent to $69.56 as traders took profits following its $770 million sale of subsidiary Coregas.

E-commerce platform Siteminder also sold off, tracking losses on the Nasdaq. The stock fell 5 per cent to $6.07.

The dollar retreated this week to $US62.23, having shaved off 2.1 per cent in the past five sessions, the worst weekly decline in a year.

Strength in the US currency also hurt Bitcoin and gold, which in turn hurt Australia’s gold miners. Bellevue Gold was the index’s biggest detractor on Friday afternoon, down 5.6 per cent to $1.10.

Stocks in focus

A wave of profit-taking hit biotech Mesoblast on Friday after US regulators gave a green light to a first-of-its-kind cell therapy developed by the company. Shares fell 20.6 per cent to $2.42 on Friday afternoon.

Integral Diagnostics shares rose 3.5 per cent to $3 after the company completed a merger with Capitol Health, creating a $1 billion diagnostics conglomerate.

Ventia rose 3.8 per cent to $3.58 after it announced a five-year deal with Telstra.

And De Grey Mining rose 2.8 per cent to $1.74 as traders reacted to news that the gold explorer’s Hemi Gold project could lead to underground production.