Australian sharemarket retreats from fresh all-time high, oil stocks fall but BNPL keeps surging on Afterpay deal

The Australian sharemarket pulled back on Tuesday, unable to maintain momentum after reaching a record high on Monday.The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index, which has repeatedly set new all-time records recently, closed 0.23 per cent lower at 7474.5 while the All Ordinaries Index dipped 0.13 per cent to 7750.5.
It followed a mixed lead from Wall St overnight, when the S&P 500 Index and Dow Jones Industrial Average ended in negative territory as concerns about Covid variants and peaking economic growth outweighed strong earnings results, Ord Minnett said.
“The Aussie sharemarket has been unable to extend its big gains from yesterday,” CommSec analyst James Tao said.
“Leading declines are the likes of resources – energy and materials both well in negative territory.
“We had oil prices overnight sliding more than 3 per cent on concerns of the spread of the Delta variant, of course, and how that may impact future crude demand.”
Woodside Petroleum gave up 1.45 per cent to $21.82, Santos declined 1.08 per cent to $6.42 and its takeover target Oil Search retreated 1.25 per cent to $3.94.
Rio Tinto weakened 0.63 per cent to $132.39, BHP fell 1.38 per cent to $52.96 and Fortescue backtracked 1.6 per cent to $24.
The banks also weighed on the market, with ANZ sliding 0.7 per cent to $28.01, Commonwealth Bank easing 0.2 per cent to $101.45, National Australia Bank dropping 0.79 per cent to $26.34 and Westpac shedding 0.92 per cent to $24.80.
OMG chief executive Ivan Tchourilov said buy-now-pay-later investors were still savouring yesterday’s news of the Afterpay acquisition by US company Square, co-founded by Twitter’s Jack Dorsey.
“The offer is all-scrip, so we’ll be seeing a lot of seesawing in the price of Square Inc and Afterpay while the theoretical offer price bounces around,” Mr Tchourilov said.
Afterpay jumped 11.37 per cent to $127.85 after soaring 18.77 per cent on Monday.
Others in the sector were “still basking in the afterglow”, Mr Tchourilov said.
Zip rose 7.46 per cent to $7.78, IOUpay rocketed 27.9 per cent to 27.5 cents and Openpay leapt 8.94 per cent to $1.28.
Crown Resorts announced Xavier Walsh, the head of its Melbourne casino at the centre of the money-laundering scandal, would step down by the end of this month.
Crown also said during its closing submissions for the Victorian royal commission that a replacement for interim executive chair Helen Coonan would be announced shortly, allowing her to step down from the role she took on in February by the end of this month.
Shares in Crown added 1.68 per cent to $9.08.
Myer lifted 4.17 per cent to 50 cents after Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments announced it was pushing ahead with its plan to overhaul the department store chain’s board.
Premier, which owns retail brands including Smiggle and Peter Alexander, is Myer’s biggest shareholder but is bitterly disappointed by its performance.
The investment group has asked Myer to commit to “allowing an appropriate window of opportunity after the release of the company’s results before calling this year’s annual general meeting”, where it wants a vote on board replacements.
Premier said it was in talks with “several highly regarded and well-credentialed independent non-executive directors”.
A Myer spokesman said the company had consistently advised Premier Investments of its willingness to work constructively together, guided by principles including maintaining the independence of the Myer board.
Other principles included proportionate board representation with appropriate conflict protocols, ensuring minimal disruption to the business and “that a change of control does not occur without realising appropriate value for shareholders”.
“Whilst indicating an intention to achieve a majority independent board, Premier Investments has consistently declined to provide any transparency regarding the independent directors to be nominated at the AGM in addition to its two or more Premier Investments representatives,” the spokesman said.
Myer wants their names and background information “as soon as possible”.
Shares in Premier edged 0.7 per cent higher to $27.32.
PointsBet plunged 13.82 per cent to $9.73 after completing its entitlement offer, raising about $81m in gross proceeds.
“Holders shouldn’t be too concerned in the short term, while the market and offer price meet in the middle,” Mr Tchourilov said.
“It’ll be interesting to see how PointsBet will use the funds in its North American expansion.”
In broader economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia kept the official cash rate on hold at a historic low 0.1 per cent and confirmed it would push ahead with scaling back its government bonds purchase from $5bn a week until early September to $4bn a week until at least mid November.
“They’re backing the Australian economy, which is promising given their usual dovish approach,” Mr Tchourilov said.
“Running down a massive amount of stimulus is going to take time, but it’s good to see the Australian economy starting to stand on its own two feet again.”
The Aussie dollar was fetching 73.94 US cents, 53.19 British pence and 62.24 Euro cents in afternoon trade.