Red dominates most sectors: Aus shares trading 0.6% lower

The ASX200 dipped at the open and retreated from yesterday’s post-pandemic high. Red was the dominant colour across most sectors, as miners, bankers, medical developers and energy players were the biggest drags on the market at lunchtime. Utilities & industrials were the only two sectors bucking the trend. Beach Energy (ASX:BPT) epitomised the energy sector’s bearish form, as the stock shed nearly 23 per cent by midday to the bottom of the ladder.

At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.55 per cent or 39.20 points lower at 7043.10.

The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 49 points.

Economic news

??The ABS has released data showing a 0.4 per cent hike in producer prices in the March Quarter, bumping up the yearly producer price indicator by 0.2 per cent ?
Petroleum, construction and accommodation were among the highest expenses, while prices of producing electrical appliances fell the lowest

Best and worst performers
 
The best-performing sector is Utilities, up 0.19 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Energy, down 1.33 per cent.
 
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Mesoblast (ASX:MSB), trading 6.56 per cent higher at $1.95. It is followed by shares in PointsBet Holdings (ASX:PBH) and Janus Henderson Group (ASX:JHG).
 
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Beach Energy (ASX:BPT), trading 22.62 per cent lower at $1.30. It is followed by shares in ResMed (ASX:RMD) and Seven Group Holdings (ASX:SVW).
 
Commodities and the dollar
 
Gold is trading at US$1767.25 an ounce.
Iron ore is 0.50 per cent lower at US$191.60  a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 1.20 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 77.76 US cents.
 
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Source: Finance News Network