ASX closes higher as banking rally offsets lithium rout
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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished higher as a banking rally offset huge losses for lithium and iron ore miners.
The benchmark ASX 200 rose 0.31% to end at 8,830.4 with nine out of the 11 sectors finishing in green.
The finance sector (+1.3%) was the best performing as Commonwealth Bank (+1.5%), NAB (+1.5%), Westpac (+1.7%) and ANZ (+1.5%) all posted gains. Judo Bank (+4.5%) was the best performing finance stock on the ASX 200 after Citi analysts upgraded their rating on the stock to ‘buy’ and lifted their price target.
ANZ also announced that its managing director, markets, Anshul Sidher has stepped down as the bank plans to cut 4,500 employees and contractors. Meanwhile, NAB has cut 410 jobs across its technology and enterprise operations division.
The materials sector (-1.7%) was the worst performing as lithium miners Liontown Resources (-18.4%), Pilbara Minerals (-17.3%), IGO (-14%) and Mineral Resources (-6.3%) plunged as CATL prepares to resume operations at its Jianxiawo mine in Yichun sooner than expected.
Iron ore majors BHP (-1.2%), Fortescue (-2.4%) and Rio Tinto (-2%) also posted losses. Iluka Resources (-14.2%) fell after telling the market it would halt mineral sands production at Cataby mine and Synthetic Rutile Kiln 2 (SR2) in Western Australia on 1 December 2025.
Biggest mover:
- Clarity Pharmaceuticals (+7.1%) – The biggest mover on the ASX 200 despite there being no company specific news.
Other news:
- Vulcan Energy (-3.4%) – Secured a permit to build and operate its Central Lithium Plant as a part of its Phase One Lionheart Project for the production of battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate at Industrial Park Höchst in Frankfurt, Germany.
- Metcash (0%) – Retail group Metcash announced non-executive director Murray Jordan would retire on 31 October and flagged a slew of costs weighted to the first half of 2026.
- Washington H Soul Pattinson (+0.6%) and Brickworks (+0.3%) – Shareholders of each company voted in favour of the merger. The combined company will be renamed Washington H Soul Pattinson and Company and will trade using the SOL ticker.
- Elanor Investor Group – Lederer Group expressed significant doubts regarding Elanor Investor Group’s ability to keep operating, stating in a revised takeover statement for the Elanor Commercial Property Fund (X%) that its recently released FY24 results “quite frankly, are a disaster”.
What’s ahead:
- The US Bureau of Labor Statistics will release data on the producer price index for August tonight at 10:30pm AEST.
- Reserve Bank of New Zealand governor Christian Hawkesby will speak at the Financial Services Council’s annual conference in Auckland tomorrow at 9:15am AEST.
