By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.27% in early trade on Wednesday, reversing slight gains of 0.07% in the previous session as a stronger Greenback hit commodity prices and pushed mining and gold stocks lower.
On the coronavirus front, Victoria tallied 221 cases today, with 123 of those unlinked to known outbreaks, while New South Wales added 1480 fresh cases as the eligible population hit 75% first dose vaccinations.
Among stocks, Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) surged 5.61% to hit a record high after providing an investor presentation that included first half guidance. Miners were generally lower with Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) falling 0.39% and BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) down 0.93% as copper prices hit their lowest in five months. Other commodity linked stocks suffered, with Dacian Gold Ltd (ASX:DCN) down 4.44% and Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC) losing 2.35%.
In policy news, the Reserve Bank of Australia maintained official interest rates at 0.1% yesterday, holding fast to the proposed plan to reduce to $4 billion from $5 billion its regular weekly purchases of government debt. However, it will extend the program at the lower level until at least mid-February, rather than November as previously announced.
Meantime, New Zealand’s benchmark NZX 50 index fell 96.29 points or 0.72% to 13228.63.