ASX 200 Retreats as Weak Retail Data Weighs on Sentiment

The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.61%, dropping 44.50 points to close at 7,309.90, erasing gains from the previous three sessions. The broader All Ordinaries Index followed suit, declining 0.56% to 7,511.50, as the market reacted to mixed global cues and disappointing domestic economic indicators. Domestic sentiment was dampened by data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which revealed that retail sales in October fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% to A$35.017 billion. This figure missed analyst forecasts, which had predicted a 0.2% increase. In the housing market, owner-occupied home loans issued in October dropped 2.9% to A$17.16 billion; while this represents a significant yearly stumble of 17.2%, the monthly decline was less severe than the 4.5% drop anticipated by economists. Sector performance was starkly divided. The financial sector saw broad weakness, with the 'big four' banks—Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Westpac, and ANZ—all declining by 1% or more. Energy stocks also struggled, with Woodside Energy falling nearly 2% and Santos losing over 1%. Major miners BHP Group and Rio Tinto both shed approximately 1%. Conversely, gold miners provided a strong offset to the losses. Resolute Mining surged 5.5%, while Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining both advanced more than 3%. This divergence occurred against a backdrop of lackluster performance on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.6% in the previous session. The Australian dollar remained steady, trading at $0.680.