The Australian sharemarket dropped on Wednesday led by the property and banking sectors after a red-hot quarterly inflation number dashed hopes of another interest rate cut this year.
The S&P/ASX 200 traded sideways until the data hit, dropping 73.8 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 8938.7 by midday with eight of the 11 industry groups trading in the red.
The data showed core inflation – the Reserve Bank of Australia’s preferred measure – came it at 1 per cent for the quarter while Q2 was also upwardly revised. Consensus forecast was for a modest up tick to 0.8 per cent while the central bank had projected 0.6 per cent.
‘So bad’
With the central bank due to meet on Melbourne Cup today, the bond market has all but abandoned any hopes of some rate relief next week.
“Today’s numbers are so bad they also place the prospect of a February rate cut in even greater doubt,” said Betashares chief economist David Bassanese. “Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of today’s report was the still sticky level of service sector inflation.”
The reaction in the sharemarket was swift, with the real estate sector dropping 1.3 per cent. Stockland and Mirvac both fell 2 per cent while Goodman Group and Scentre Group were off 1 per cent.
Financials also retreated with Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac all falling more than 1 per cent.
Health care remains the biggest laggard as CSL shed a further 3.3 per cent following its annual meeting on Tuesday. Telix Pharmaceuticals slid 1 per cent as it plans to release 45,584 ordinary shares from voluntary escrow on November 6.
Stocks in focus
In company news, Nick Scali rocketed 10.8 per cent after strong Q1 ANZ sales, with total written orders up 11.6 per cent and December half profit expected to reach $33-35 million.
Uranium miner Boss Energy surged 13.8 per cent after reporting record quarterly production at its Honeymoon project, with costs coming in below FY26 guidance.
Woolworths climbed 1.8 per cent despite quarterly sales of $18.5 billion falling short of the company’s “aspirations”. Year-on-year, sales were up 2.7 per cent. Chief executive Amanda Bardwell told investors there was more work to be done to win back customers.
Cash Converters fell 7.1 per cent following completion of its institutional equity raising, raising $15.74 million ahead of a $25 million total.
SiteMinder rose 2.4 per cent after early FY26 trading confirmed that annual recurring revenue was tracking last year, signalling steady demand across its hotel commerce platform.
Ansell rallied 6 per cent after the company upgraded its earnings guidance to between $US1.37 to $US1.49 per share. That compares to $US1.33 to $US 1.45 previously, supported by favourable currency movements and lower operating costs.
Helia slid 2.3 per cent after the insurer reaffirmed its focus on the lenders mortgage insurance market. The company reported $66.1 million in gross written premium and net profit of $17.8 million for the September quarter.
And Medibank fell 0.5 per cent ahead of a health strategy presentation, with ambitions to reach $200 million in annual health earnings and engage 10 million Australians by FY30.
