ASX loses ground as resources stocks drag down market

The local share market fell again today, with resources stocks once again leading the market lower.

Transcript

00:00Mining and energy stocks like Fortescue and Woodside were the main losers today, but the

00:05winners were two Aussie anti-drone businesses, Drone Shield and Electro-Optic Systems. Drone

00:12Shield announced a $50 million contract today with a European buyer and yesterday Electro-Optic

00:17Systems said it had signed an $80 million deal with a customer in Korea for a high-energy

00:23laser weapon. There were falls in the US last night and in Asia today on commodity markets

00:29oil and gold fell while copper and iron ore went up and the Australian dollar was roughly

00:34steady again in the mid-66s. Consumer sentiment has slumped back below 100, which means there

00:40are more pessimists again than optimists after a brief majority of optimists, probably because

00:44of the sudden shift in interest rate forecasts from more cuts next year, just three months

00:50ago, to two hikes now, at least according to the futures market. And that's due to GDP growth

00:56reaching potential growth, which is to say that Australia is going flat out. The problem

01:01being that because of weak productivity, the economy is now a jalopy, stuck in the slow lane

01:06or else the engine will overheat. And that's finance.