Trading Day: ASX falls 0.8% as month-end selling hits region; Beach sinks, AMP avoids second strike

ASX ends down 0.8% as month-end selling hits the region but 3.5% monthly gain best since November. Beach slides after target downgrade, Origin sales slip, Booktopia booms.

The ASX had on Thursday hit a new post-pandemic high. Picture: AAP

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Friday, April 30. Australian stocks firmly lower, even after Wall Street rose as investors weighed improving economic data, strong earnings and the threat of rising bond yields.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7 per cent, while the S&P 500 added 0.7 per cent to close at a fresh record. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.2 per cent. Locally, AMP held its AGM and while it recorded a protest vote over executive remuneration, it narrowly avoided a "second strike" that could have triggered a board spill.