BHP, Rio and Woolies drag down Aussie market on negative trading day

The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.74 per cent midweek, with a slump in mining stocks and ‘mixed results’ from supermarket giant Woolworths.

The Australian sharemarket fell on Wednesday as investors grappled with a bad night on Wall Street, falling iron ore prices and poor results from the nation’s leading supermarket retailer.

The benchmark ASX 200 index fell 50.6 points, or 0.66 per cent, to close at 7608.4 points.

The broader All Ordinaries fell 51.5 points, or 0.65 per cent, to finish the session at 7860 points.

The fall followed a bad night on Wall Street where tech stocks tumbled, led by chip giant Nvidia, and the Dow Jones and S and P 500 indexes both ended in the red.

Big miners BHP and Rio Tinto both slumped 2.35 per cent and 1.75 per cent, respectively, while retail giant Woolworths suffered a sharp 6.6 per cent drop after reporting a half-year loss of $781m.

eToro market analyst Josh Gilbert said falling iron ore prices and the Woolworths results had pushed Wednesday’s trading into the red.

Woolworths’ half-year results for FY24 dragged the ASX lower on Wednesday. Picture: NCA Newswire / Nicki Connolly

“Iron ore prices are down about nine per cent and that has put iron ore miners under pressure,” he said.

“The BHPs and Rio Tintos, they have such a big weighting on the market, so when you have BHP down by more than two per cent, it is always going to drag the market down. And of course you’ve got Woolworths and Coles.”

Coles followed the Woolies slump, ending the day down 4.24 per cent.

“I think the results from Woolworths dragged Coles down as well,” Mr Gilbert said.

Only four of the 11 sectors ended the day in the green, with information technology, utilities, healthcare and discretionary posting gains.

Real estate, energy, industrials, financials, telecommunications, materials and staples all closed down, with staples leading the fall with a 4.25 per cent collapse.

BHP slumped 2.35 per cent. Pictured is BHP chairman Ken McKenzie. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Emma Brasier

Materials was the second worst performing sector with a 1.41 per cent fall.

Tech was the “standout”, Mr Gilbert said, but the sector’s small weighting meant it couldn’t pull the market into positive territory.

Shares in WiseTech jumped 11.1 per cent after the $29.6bn software company reported an eight per cent rise in profits to $118.2m.

The big four banks had a mixed day on the market, with Westpac and CBA both trading slightly down, while NAB rose 0.36 per cent and ANZ led with a 0.79 per cent gain.

Next iron ore, Wall St and Woolworths, the release of the quarterly wage index may have pushed moved markets downwards, Mr Gilbert said, after the figures came in “slightly hotter than expected”.

“It maybe pushed back slightly on rate cut expectations,” he said.

“If we have wage growth that is really strong, that is not good news for inflation.”

Originally published as BHP, Rio and Woolies drag down Aussie market on negative trading day