Australian shares declined on Tuesday as investors awaited details from the federal budget and awaited key inflation data from the US. The S&P/ASX 200 closed down 0.3%, or 23.2 points, at 7726. This drop followed a subdued start on Wall Street, with attention turning to forthcoming US producer and consumer price data.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a rise of 4 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 0.5 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 14.5 points.
The SPI futures are down 24 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector was Consumer Discretionary, up 0.73 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Industrials, down 0.88 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was ALS (ASX:ALQ), closing 2.41 per cent higher at $13.62. It was followed by shares in Sonic Healthcare (ASX:SHL) and Aristocrat Leisure (ASX:ALL).
The worst-performing large cap was Seven Group Holdings (ASX:SVW), closing 3.05 per cent lower at $37.80. It was followed by shares in Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) and Yancoal Australia (ASX:YAL).
Asian markets
Japan's Nikkei has gained 0.46 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has lost 0.03 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has gained 0.29 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2,348.40 an ounce.
Iron ore is 0.6 per cent higher at US$117.25 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.8 per cent fall.
Light crude is trading $0.10 higher at US$79.22 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 66.01 US cents.
