The Australian sharemarket finished lower on Thursday, after a sell-off in consumer stocks following an unexpected fall in monthly retail sales figures offset a rally in energy stocks.P/ASX 200 index fell 0.1 per cent, or 5.5 points, to 7024.8 at the closing bell, with eight out of the 11 industry sectors recording losses. The All ordinaries also fell 0.1 per cent.retail activity last month
The consumer discretionary sector recorded the sharpest loss, down 1.2 per cent. IDP Education dropped 3.5 per cent to $20.95, Aristocrat Leisure slid 1.9 per cent to $40.64 and Wesfarmers fell 0.8 per cent to $52.65. Embattled casino operator Star Entertainment extended from Wednesday’s losses, down 5.1 per cent to 60¢
Washington H Soul Pattinson slumped 6 per cent to $31.94 after the conglomerate with holdings in New Hope and Brickworks, reported a 9 per cent drop in so-called “regular profit” to $759.3 million for the full year. It also said that it had reallocated nearly $1 billion of capital away from equity investments over the past year.