ASX 200 finishes slightly lower as lithium miners fall
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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished lower, with lithium miners falling on news that Albemarle is seeking a capital raise.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 ended Tuesday down 0.15% to 7,724.2, with seven out of 11 sectors finishing in red.
The worst-performing sector was consumer discretionary, down 1.21%, followed by consumer staples (-1.05%) and utilities (-0.93%).
Lithium miners fell including Pilbara Minerals (-6.69%), IGO (-5.03%) and Liontown Resources (-3.95%) after the US miner Albemarle announced it was looking to raise USD2.01 billion ($3.09 billion) for general corporate purposes due to the downturn in lithium prices.
The best-performing sector was healthcare, up 1%, followed by materials (0.56%) and IT (0.12%). Pathology company Healius surged 15.56% after the company announced its CEO Maxine Jaquet had resigned effective immediately and that it was conducting a strategic review of the company’s structure and assets. Healius was also the-top performing stock.
Telix Pharmaceuticals gained 1.52% following news that it is expanding into Canada by acquiring ARTMS.
Gold companies also enjoyed gains today, including Genesis Minerals (7.21%), Newmont (X5.26%), Emerald Resources (5.02%), and Regis Resources (5.46%). Gold prices approached record highs overnight as investors' expectations of a US interest rate cut rose.
The context: Tomorrow will see the Australian Bureau of Statistics release GDP figures for the December 2023 quarter. They are expected to show subdued growth of around 0.3% over the final quarter and 1.5% for the year.
However, today’s trade figures showed the country’s current account balance increased by $10.5 billion to a surplus of $11.8 billion in the December quarter driven by mining and commodity exports.
