Australian shares are sliding in the final trading hours, continuing a tough start to the year due to traders unwinding last month's market rally. This decline can be attributed to traders selling off shares, continuing the trend from the previous month's sharemarket rally. The S&P/ASX 200 is down 0.5%, with all sectors trading lower. Energy stocks initially boosted the market but have now fallen to a 0.01% loss.
Kali Metals, a lithium hopeful, has stood out by surging around 75% from its IPO price of 25¢ per share. Uranium stocks like Boss Energy and Paladin Energy are performing well, possibly influenced by the UK's plans for a high-tech nuclear fuel plant.
Stronger-than-expected US jobs data has raised doubts about the timing and extent of future interest rate cuts by both the Federal Reserve and the Reserve Bank of Australia. This has led to a reduction in expected rate cuts in 2024. In stock news, GQG Partners saw a 0.7% increase, Red 5 rose by 3.6%, Metcash appointed a new CEO for Total Tools Holdings, and Whispir's stock declined by 2.7% following a board decision favoring a buyout bid from Soprano over Pendula in the communications technology sector.
