More opportunities to learn from the experts
In this month’s edition of the Sharemarket Game newsletter, investment expert Gemma Dale, nabtrade has provided us with insights from across the market from the month of March.
“The S&P ASX200 lost 4% in March to finish at 7,834 points. Despite this, the Australian share market outperformed the US, with the S&P500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq benchmarks losing 5.8% and 8.2% respectively, as the Magnificent 7 stocks that were the key drivers of share market performance fell away.
Utilities and Materials were the two positive sectors for the month, while Information Technology and Consumer Discretionary lost the most ground. Weakness in financials, which was one of the strongest performing sectors of the last twelve months, has proved the greatest drag on the market overall, with CBA, the largest stock in the index, falling away from an all time high of nearly $168, and the remainder of the big four still under pressure following disappointing quarterly results.
Materials were less of a drag on the market, BHP and Rio Tinto moving sideways, while Fortescue Metals Group came under a bit of pressure. The strongest performers were the gold miners, which have largely lagged the extraordinary strength in the gold price and have started to catch up, with Newmont, Evolution Mining, Regis Resources and West African Resources all adding double digits.
Elsewhere in the market, James Hardie lost more than 20% after it announced the acquisition of US home building supplier AZEK, and Block (the owner of Afterpay, formerly Square) fell more than 15%, tracking US tech names lower.“
To hear more from Gemma, take a look at the nabtrade “Your Wealth” Podcast, available here.
