Markets Live, Thursday 2 September, 2021

The Australian sharemarket closed at its lowest in nearly two weeks as ex-dividend mining titan BHP led losses, continuing the soft start to September for local equities.

BHP – the biggest company on the index – fell $3.09, or 6.9 per cent on Thursday, to close at a nine-month low $41.94 as iron ore prices weakened and it went without the right to its recently announced payout of $US2 ($2.70) a share.

Together with biotech CSL – which was also trading ex-dividend – the iron giant accounted for the bulk of the 0.6 per cent decline for the S&P/ASX 200.

The local index managed to trim losses in another afternoon recovery, having shed 1.2 per cent or $28 billion in early trade, and ultimately finished at 7485.7 for the session.

Supermarket Woolworths was another blue-chip to trade ex-dividend and closed 1.5 per cent lower at $40.47.
Rio Tinto, Westpac, ANZ, Wesfarmers, ResMed and Telstra all declined in a lacklustre day for the top end of the market.

Technology stocks took a lead from their Wall Street counterparts to help pare losses, while Macquarie Group also nudged a record high gaining 0.8 per cent to close at $168.05.

It was a quiet day for corporate news given the torrent of earnings reports in August with volumes down on the daily average of the past two weeks.

MLC Asset Management portfolio manager Anthony Golowenko said investors would largely be happy with their haul from the past month even as uncertainty clouds the horizon.

Mr Golowenko said the major question now was where shareholders would be able to find growth in a market that was dealing with a number of intersecting challenges.

“We’ve been through COVID, we’ve had the stimulus, the vaccines and the investment market is largely back on track,” he said.

“And I think the confidence of companies and their balance sheets to reward investors are encouraging signs.

“The real challenge looking forwards is where do you find growth? Where we’re seeing it is in those mid and smaller companies, and those with exposures and ability to go global.”