Australia’s share market has dipped for the second day in a row as most sectors struggle to gather momentum.
The ASX 200 closed with 7283.80 points after dropping by 0.20 per cent or 14.70 points on Tuesday.
Despite the small drop, the market managed to fight its way back from a low of approximately 7261 points just before noon when the Reserve Bank released the minutes from its July 4 policy meeting, which flagged the possibility of future rate rises if inflation doesn’t play nice in the next few weeks.
Despite the grim news, the market managed to recover around 22 points before close of business at 4pm.
Over the previous five trading days, the index has gained 2.46% and is currently 3.75% off of its 52-week high.
The sluggish day saw seven of 11 sectors fall, with real estate suffering the largest drop of 1.43 per cent followed by IT with a 1.26 per cent fall and industrials with a 1.18 per cent dip.
Healthcare was the market’s biggest winner, growing by 0.93 per cent followed by financials at 0.83 per cent.
Two companies saw the decline in share price reach double digits, with Tuesday’s biggest loser Syrah Resources down to $0.75 a share after a fall of 16.29 per cent.
They were followed by Ansell which saw its price drop by 14.01 per cent to $23.88 after the company announced it would slow down manufacturing over the next 12 months as a part of cost-saving measures worth $50 million.
Rounding out the bottom three was Imugene which dropped by 5.10 per cent to end trading at $0.09.
The miners also dragged the index down for a second day this week, with Woodside falling by 1.09 per cent to end trading at $35.55 and BHP down 0.97 per cent to $44.82.
Rio Tinto also saw its price drop by 0.82 per cent to $116.88 and Santos fell 0.40 to $7.53.
Embattled miner IGO slipped further on Tuesday after being named as one of the biggest decliners on Monday, falling by 3.77 per cent to $14.82.
Construction and mining contractor NWH Holdings was today’s winner with a 5.10 per cent rise to end trading at $2.68.
It was followed by Block Inc which rose by 2.90 per cent to $113.70 and AGL which saw its price increase by 2.79 per cent to $11.80.
The big four banks ended Tuesday on a high, led by NAB which had a 2.03 per cent boost to close the day at $27.67.
Next up was ANZ which rose 1.67 per cent to $24.95, followed by Westpac and Commonwealth Bank with rises of 0.79 per cent and 0.69 per cent respectively.