ASX closes flat as gold miners rally; DroneShield soars
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The news: The Australian stock market finished marginally higher, after opening lower and trading roughly flat throughout the day.
The benchmark ASX 200 index fell 6.5 points, or 0.08%, to end at 8,579.4, with nine out of 11 sectors finishing in the red.
Technology (-1.5%) was the worst performing sector as Wisetech Global (-1.9%), Xero (-2.1%) and Technology One (-1.3%) dragged the benchmark lower. Meanwhile, materials (+1.3%) was the top performing sector as gold miners rallied.
Biggest movers:
- Droneshield (+16.2%) — ended as the day’s biggest gainer, rallying after seeing its share price slump around 30% over the last month, triggered by CEO Oleg Vornik and other executives selling down shares in the company.
- Gold miners were also positive ahead of the prospect of a US Federal Reserve rate cut.
- Iluka Resources (-5.1%), Reliance Worldwide (-5.1%), Pro Medicus (-4.1%) finished as the worst performers.
Other news:
- Ramelius Resources (+5.6%) — announced $250m share buyback and lifted its minimum dividend.
- TPG Telecom (+0.5%) — completed its $73 million retail reinvestment plan, short of its $138 million target.
- GQG Partners (flat) — reported a 2.4% fall in net flows in November, totalling a 1.8% fall year to date.
- Bell Financial (+7.2%) — reported a 17% rise in unaudited profit before tax for the 11 months to November.
What's ahead:
- The Bank of Canada will make its next decision on interest rates (1:45am AEDT).
- The US Federal Reserve will make its last interest rate call of the year (6am AEDT).
- The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release monthly employment figures (11:30am AEDT).
