Mid-Market: S&P/ASX 200 Trading Lower; JHX And SHL Are Declining By More Than 10%

On 21 May 2024, at AEST 11:00 AM, the benchmark index S&P/ASX 200 is trading lower today, declining 14.80 points or 0.19%, and is currently trading at 7,848.90 levels. Out of 11 sectors, 5 sectors are trading lower along with the decline in the S&P/ASX 200.

The Industrials and Consumer Staples sectors are the top 2 gaining sectors, gaining 0.31% and 0.25% in their index values. On the other hand, Telecommunication Services and Materials sectors are the top 2 declining sectors, declining 0.85% and 0.49% in their index values.

ALS Limited (ASX: ALQ) and Alumina Limited (ASX: AWC) are the top-gaining stocks, gaining 4.423% and 3.924% in their stock prices. On the other hand, James Hardie Industries PLC (ASX: JHX) and Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL) are the top-losing stocks and are declining by 10.718% and 10.372% in their stock prices.

Factors influencing the market-

• Australian shares are easing after a mixed session on Wall Street, as a decline in James Hardie and Sonic Healthcare offset gains in tech stocks.
• Sonic Healthcare Limited’s shares tumbled ~10% after flagging lower-than-expected profit due to inflation and currency exchange headwinds.
• ALS Limited is rallying today even though net profit tumbled 96% in fiscal 2024 due to write-downs relating to its pharmaceuticals business Nuvisan stake and restructuring costs.
• Alumina Limited’s shares advanced as its acquisition offer by US partner Alcoa was amended to allow Citic, Alumina’s second-largest shareholder, to receive a small portion of its Alcoa’s convertible shares to comply with US regulation.
• Oil prices eased less than 1% in the previous session as U.S. Federal Reserve officials said they were awaiting more signs that inflation was declining before the central bank starts cutting interest rates.
• The Dow has closed down by 0.49%, the S&P 500 closed up by 0.09%, and the NASDAQ ended higher by 0.65%.
• Hang Seng is up by 0.42%, and FTSE 100 is up by 0.05%.

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