Australian sharemarket dragged lower by tech, mining, healthcare stocks

Tech, mining and healthcare stocks dragged the Australian sharemarket lower but it would have been worse without gains by the big banks.

The Australian sharemarket finished lower, driven by losses among tech, mining and healthcare stocks.

The S&P/ASX200 was 0.27 per cent weaker at 6679.1 while the All Ordinaries Index eased 0.29 per cent to 6939.1.

CommSec analyst Steve Daghlian said the bourse opened marginally higher, shrugging off a weak lead from Wall Street, mixed commodity prices and the futures market suggesting a negative start.

But it ground lower in afternoon trade and would have been worse if not for gains by the big banks.

Payment tech company Tyro fell 8.25 per cent to $2.89 due to an EFTPOS terminal outage that began a week ago, frustrating thousands of small business owners.

Tyro’s EFTPOS outage has affected thousands of small business owners. Picture: Nicholas Falconer/Sunshine Coast Daily

Online accounting software company Xero dipped 2.33 per cent to $132.76, electronics design software firm Altium dropped 2.11 per cent to $30.13 after reporting a dip in first half revenue and buy-now-pay-later market leader Afterpay slipped 1.88 per cent to $111.85.

Another instalment payment platform, Sezzle, delivered record fourth quarter results, sending its shares 2.72 per cent higher to $6.42.

“It now has about 2.2 million active customers and that’s a lift of around 144 per cent on a year earlier,” Mr Daghlian said.

Skin regeneration solutions company PolyNovo slumped 12.98 per cent to $2.95 after saying sales had been slower than expected in October and November.

It said forecasting sales would be challenging in the short-term, particularly in the US, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’ve got to keep in mind the stock actually almost doubled in price in 2020,” Mr Daghlian said.

Biotech giant CSL retreated 1.04 per cent to $273.07.

Winners included Super Retail Group, which owns Supercheap Auto, BCF and Rebel, rising 5.47 per cent to $11.56, while brewers and distillers provider United Malt Group appreciated 4.09 per cent to $4.07.

Super Retail Group gained ground.

Automotive accessories group ARB Corporation rose 5.75 per cent to $33.47 after providing a market update saying it maintained a positive short-term outlook based on a strong customer order book and a record sales month in December.

The company said it could not provide second half guidance, however, “as it remains far too uncertain to predict in the current economic climate”.

Nearmap added 3.5 per cent to $2.07 after RBC Capital Markets analysts upgraded their rating for the aerial imaging company.

ANZ firmed 0.84 per cent to $24.05, Commonwealth Bank put on 0.85 per cent to $85.88, National Australia Bank advanced 1.08 per cent to $23.46 and Westpac found 0.99 per cent to $20.49.

Rio Tinto declined 0.81 per cent to $121.41 amid concerns about the planned expansion of its massive Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia.

BHP slid 1.08 per cent to $46 and Fortescue Metals Group eased 0.32 per cent to $25.13.

The Aussie dollar was fetching 76.95 US cents, 56.87 British pence and 63.36 Euro cents in afternoon trade.

Originally published as Australian sharemarket dragged lower by tech, mining, healthcare stocks