ASX slips as banks fall; Web Travel climbs 10pc

The Australian sharemarket slipped at the open, weighed by losses in the major banks and consumer staples.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.2 per cent, or by 20.6 points to 8960.8 at the start of trade, dragged lower by declines in six out of the 11 sectors. Overnight on Wall Street, the tech heavy Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached record closing highs, up 0.7 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.
On the ASX, the financials sector was among the worst performers, with all the major banks in the red. Index heavyweight Commonwealth Bank fell 0.9 per cent, Westpac slipped 0.6 per cent, National Australia Bank 0.5 per cent and ANZ 0.6 per cent.
Consumer staples stocks also recorded losses, with supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles down 1.1 per cent and 0.7 per cent, respectively.
On Wall Street, AMD inked a deal with OpenAI to roll out AI infrastructure in a pact the chipmaker said could generate tens of billions of dollars in new revenue and could lead to OpenAI acquiring a 10 per cent stake in the chipmaker. AMD's shares surged as much as 38 per cent before easing to close up 23.7 per cent.
"As equity markets continue to grind to new highs on alluring hopes of the AI capex boom being amplified by fiscal and monetary stimulus and 'Goldilocks' conditions delivering double-digit profit growth, signs are increasing that all the dreams being priced into markets may not come true," Morgan Stanley Wealth Management's Lisa Shalett said.
In commodities, gold rose to a fresh record, nearing $US4000-an-ounce, as looming US interest rate cuts and the prospect of a prolonged US federal government shutdown lifted demand. The precious metal rallied as much as 2.2 per cent to top $US3970 an ounce in the week's opening session in New York.
The corporate regulator has approved alternative exchange Cboe Australia's listing market application, in an approval that increases direct competition for sharemarket floats with the ASX. The approval allows Cboe to list new companies on its platform, in addition to its existing ability to list exchange-traded funds. Shares in ASX Limited dropped 1.3 per cent following the news.

Sumber : AFR