London, Tuesday, 5 December 2023
Australian Stocks Decline prior to RBA Decision.
Tuesday saw a steep decline from the S&P/ASX 200 Index's two-month high of 7,060, down 0.9% as investors became more cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's policy announcement. Investors were concerned that the central bank may issue a hawkish pause such to what happened in November with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
Overnight, Australian markets followed the losses on Wall Street as US stocks ended a five-day winning run. Due to lower commodity prices, mining and energy equities had the worst losses.
BHP Group (-2.1%), Fortescue Metals (-2.4%), Rio Tinto (-1.7%), Pilbara Minerals (-5%), Woodside Energy (-1.3%), and Santos (-0.9%) saw particularly large losses. Heavyweight stocks in technology, finance, and consumer goods also fell.
(Source: Trading Economics // Edited by The Decision Maker - Finance editors)