The local share market has sold off in its first day of losses in the past six sessions, with retailers taking it on the chin following a number of poorly received trading updates.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Thursday dropped 82.9 points, or 1.06 per cent, to 7,721.6, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 82.5 points, or 1.02 per cent, to 7,994.2.
The consumer discretionary sector fell 2.6 per cent, its biggest loss since a 3.5 per cent drop on December 20, 2022, although major losses for the big four banks were an even bigger drag on the market.
Commonwealth Bank retreated 2.2 per cent to $117.09 as Australia's biggest bank announced its profit was down five per cent to $2.4 billion last quarter, compared to a year ago.
Saxo Asia Pacific senior sales trader Junvum Kim said CBA's performance was "muted," hampered by shrinking margins amid heightened competition and rising operating expenses.
Westpac, trading ex-dividend, fell 5.6 per cent to $26.32, while NAB dropped 1.3 per cent to $33.52 and ANZ dipped 1.1 per cent to $28.79.
In the heavyweight material sector, BHP dropped 0.7 per cent to $26.41, Fortescue fell 0.9 per cent to $26.41 and Rio Tinto was basically flat at $130.23.
Baby Bunting was the worst performer of the 500 companies in the All Ordinaries, plunging 23.4 per cent to a three-month low of $1.50 after announcing that same-stores sales results were down 7.4 per cent in the first four months of 2024, compared to the same period in 2023.
"While we have been an improving trend in transactions in 2H compared to 1H, this was heavily impacted by a declining average transaction value driven by consumers trading down and ongoing competition in nursery essentials impacting market price," chief executive Mark Teperson said.
Fellow retailer JB Hi-Fi fell 4.5 per cent to a three-month low of $57.25 as the electronics and homeware seller said that same-store sales at its Australian JB Hi-Fi stores were down 0.3 per cent last quarter.
"In a challenging and competitive retail market, the group's Q3 FY24 sales remained resilient and in line with the group's expectations," the company said.
Temple & Webster dropped 17.9 per cent to a nearly three-month low of $10.36 as the furniture e-retailer announced its sales were up 30 per cent so far year-to-date.
This was better than analysts had been expecting but not as good as traders were hoping for.
Chief executive Mark Coulter said that the overall furniture and homewares market was down four per cent during the same period due to cost-of-living pressures, but Temple & Webster was making significant market share gains.
Other companies in the consumer discretionary sector that did not release updates on Thursday also did poorly, with Wesfarmers falling 3.5 per cent to $68.01, Harvey Norman dropping 3.8 per cent to $4.26 and Super Retail Group retreating 5.5 per cent to $13.02.
In the real estate sector, Scentre Group fell 1.9 per cent to $3.16 after the Westfields owner said customer visits were up 2.8 million to 175 million for the first 18 weeks of the year.
On the smaller end of town, Integrated Research soared 53.8 per cent to 16-month high of 61.5c after the payment data company flagged several new contract wins and forecast a big increase in full-year earnings.
Overall, eight of the ASX's 11 sectors lost ground and consumer staples, energy and utilities rose.
The Australian dollar was buying 65.72 US cents, from 65.78 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Thursday down 82.9 points, or 1.06 per cent, at 7,721.6
* The broader All Ordinaries fell 82.5 points, or 1.02 per cent, to 7,994.2
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 65.68 US cents, from 65.78 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close
* 102.30 Japanese yen, from 102.07 Japanese yen
* 61.15 Euro cents, from 61.23 Euro cents
* 52.62 British pence, from 52.68 pence
* 109.55 NZ cents, from 109.79 NZ cents.
