THE Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX) Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) lost further ground this week, closing below 1200 cents for the first time in six months.
In the fourth consecutive week of falls, the EMI dropped 22 cents to finish at 1195c/kg.
Just over 40,000 bales were offered.
AWEX senior market analyst Lionel Plunkett said a strong Australian dollar contributed to the downward pressure
on the market after rising steadily over the past week.
He said the weekly rise in the Australian dollar totalled 1.38 cents and in percentage terms was equivalent to the movement in the AWEX-EMI.
In US terms the EMI barely moved, rising 1 cent.
"The week started off reasonably promising when a NZ catalogue was sold in isolation on Tuesday," Mr Plunkett said.
"Stylish types found good support but the few lower spec types were patchy.
"Sentiment deteriorated at the Australian offering the next day and fleece prices eased back 1pc, or around 15 cents.
"Thursday was more encouraging when buyer pressure pushed a number of the MPG’s onto the positive side of the ledger.
"Again, it was the better types which drove the rise, especially in the finer microns where the few Spinners attracted keen support."
Mr Plunkett said any losses were generally restricted to part-tender, overlong types (>100mm) and the mid-microns centred around the 20/21 range.
Merino Skirtings lost ground each day, closing 30 cents lower for the week.
Crossbreds gave up 30 to 40 cents for the sale after making losses in equal daily instalments.
Mr Plunkett said it is the fourth week of losses for the 28 MPG and is now 100 cents lower over that period.
Merino Cardings were also pushed lower, closing 20 cents below last week.
A total of 46,032 bales are expected next week in three centres and includes a designated Superfine sale in Sydney.
