ASX closes flat; Codan leads gains on first-half profit leap
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: The Australian sharemarket finished higher as mining and communications technology company Codan said it expects underlying net profit after tax for the first half of the year to spike.
The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.03% to end at 8,717.8 with six of the 11 sectors finishing in the red.
Energy was the best performing sector as Woodside (+3%) and Santos (+3.5%) tracked gains in oil prices amid supply disruption concerns in Venezuela and in Iran amid widespread protests and strikes.
Biggest movers:
- Codan (+16.9%) – Led gains on the ASX 200 after telling the exchange it expects to report a 52% jump in underlying net profit after tax for the first-half period.
- Mesoblast (+4.1%) – Reported a 60% increase in quarterly revenue to USD35.1 million ($52.4 million), driven by sales of its cell therapy Ryoncil for the quarter ended 31 December 2025.
- Rio Tinto (-6.3%) – The biggest loser on the ASX 200 after Glencore and Rio Tinto confirmed they are in preliminary discussions about a "possible combination of some or all of their businesses". Some shareholders and analysts have expressed concerns it could be at odds with a more prudent capital allocation strategy outlined in December.
Other news:
- Weststar Industrial (+3.5%) – Subsidiary SIMPEC secured an $11 million contract for structural, mechanical and piping works at IGO (-1.1%) joint venture Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia’s Kwinana lithium hydroxide plant in Perth.
- BlueScope (+2%) – The steelmaker's largest shareholder AustralianSuper backed BlueScope’s rejection of a $13 billion takeover offer from SGH (-1%) and Nasdaq-listed Steel Dynamics. The super fund argued they would only support a deal with a “materially higher” price.
- Aristocrat (+1%) – Announced an $750 million extension of its on-market share buy-back program for an additional 12-month period ending 5 March 2027. This takes the total value to $1.5 billion.
What’s ahead:
- The University of Michigan will release preliminary US consumer sentiment for January on Saturday at 2:00am AEDT.
- The Tokyo Stock Exchange will not trade on Monday as Japan observes the Coming of Age Day public holiday.
- ANZ will release job advertisement data for December on Monday at 11:30am AEDT.
- The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release household spending data for November on Monday at 11:30am AEDT.
