A sharp sell-off in BHP Group as well as other mining companies caused a dip in the sharemarket.
All 11 sectors fell to finish in the red and the All Ordinaries saw a similar dip.
“It’s a case of good news is bad news and bad news is good news,” Tribeca Investment Partners fund manager Ben Cleary told the Australian Financial Review (AFR).
“That good data coming through is deemed by the market as bad news for mining stocks in the short term, as it raises the prospect of the Fed continuing to increase rates.”
Cleary underlined that the sharemarket plunges were just a sign of investors “taking a breath” after the performance of the last few months, especially in the commodities sector.
The AFR reported that BHP, a player representing 10 per cent of the ASX, dropped 5.2 per cent to $43.71, as shares traded ex-dividend.
Rio Tinto also fell 2.5 per cent to $113.10 and Fortescue Metals dropped 2.3 per cent to $19.87, leaving the ASX’s mining sector down 3.2 per cent overall.
As Chinese steel mills saw less demand for iron, used in the steel-making process, Iron ore share prices also felt the crunch with futures in Singapore falling more than 2 per cent to $US113.70 a tonne.
But some were seemingly immune to the drops, with Liontown Resources seeing a significant boost in trading volume with shares jumping 9 per cent to $3.02.
It follows a $6.6 billion takeover offer from Albemarle after a year of negotiations, which Liontown’s board has recommended shareholders accept.