Stocks shed more than 1pc

The local market has fallen to a five-week trough, as retail and energy stocks sell off.

Today’s figures represent a six-week trough for the benchmark index.

The Australian sharemarket has limped to a second straight loss of more than 1 per cent, weighed by the retail and energy sectors as well as a continued sell-off in bond proxies like the real estate sector.

At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index had slumped 64.3 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 5,295.5, while the broader All Ordinaries index lost 63.7 points, or 1.17 per cent, to 5,378.4.

The figures represent a five-and-a-half-week trough for the benchmark index, bringing it to a 2.67 per cent loss for the past two days.

Coles owner Wesfarmers was again in the spotlight, tumbling 2.7 per cent to $40.32. The move follows a 5.7 per cent slump in the prior session, with almost $3.5 billion wiped from its market capitalisation since a lacklustre quarterly update on Wednesday morning.

Rival Woolworths dipped 1.3 per cent to $24.80 as traders turned cautious ahead of its latest quarterly report being released Friday morning.

Also in retail, JB Hi-Fi bounced 0.9 per cent as the company reaffirmed forecasts at its AGM, although it was unable to retain much of its earlier gains of 5 per cent as the broader market wilted.

A robust full-year earnings result from NAB provided an initial boost to the finance sector, but that quickly faded in line with the ASX200.

NAB, which beat market expectations, managed to cling to a gain of 0.5 per cent by the close, but its peers all ended well in the red.

Commonwealth Bank was the worst performer as it slid 1.6 per cent amid news it was on the hook for refunds of around $105 million, for charging advisory fees without actually providing advice.

Energy stocks also struggled as crude prices fell in offshore trade despite positive data.

“The falls came despite a draw on US inventories, suggesting underlying weakness,” CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said.

Santos skidded 2 per cent to $3.52, Origin Energy weakened 0.9 per cent to $5.30 and Woodside slipped 1.5 per cent to $27.94.

The picture was also bleak in the materials space, despite iron ore prices approaching a six-month high in offshore deals.

Fortescue gave back 2.7 per cent to $5.34, BHP dipped 1.4 per cent to $22.51, and Rio Tinto eased 0.1 per cent to $53.30.

Crisis-hit Ardent Leisure proceeded with its AGM despite the tragic death of four people after an accident at its Dreamworld theme park on the Gold Coast on Tuesday.

The admission of a significant hit to earnings did not deter investors from jumping back into the group’s shares, with a recovery of 7.5 per cent seen on the back of falls of almost 25 per cent across the past two sessions.

Peer Village Roadshow enjoyed a modest rally of 0.2 per cent.

Among blue chips, Telstra lost 0.4 per cent to $4.98, while Qantas softened 0.3 per cent to $3.05.

Elsewhere, Murray Goulburn slumped 2.7 per cent after taking a significant writedown, while Westfield and Stockland yielded more than 1.5 per cent as bond proxies fell out of favour.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar dipped US0.2c to US76.25c at the end of the local session as investors shunned growth-oriented currencies.