ASX closes higher; tech, healthcare leads gains
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: The Australian sharemarket finished higher amid broad gains led by the tech and the healthcare sectors.
The benchmark ASX 200 rose 0.29% to end at 8,720.8 with 10 of the 11 sectors finishing in the green.
The tech sector (+1.7%) led gains on the exchange as WiseTech Global (+2.1%), Xero (+1%), Technology One (+1.4%), Codan (+4.7%) and Life360 (+3.6%) finished higher. The healthcare sector (+1.6%) also finished higher as CSL (+2.6%), Sigma Healthcare (+1.1%) and Resmed (+2%) finished higher.
The materials sector (-1.2%) was the only sector to finish lower as BHP (-1%), Fortescue (-0.4%), Rio Tinto (-1.1%) and Northern Star (-2.8%) fell.
Biggest movers:
- Ansell (-6.2%) – CEO Neil Salmon will retire from the healthcare equipment manufacturer after 13 years with the company. He will be replaced by former Fiskars Group boss Nathalie Ahlström.
Other news:
- Ramelius (-2.4%) – Reiterated its FY26 guidance despite reporting a slide in production for the December quarter.
- BlueScope Steel (-1.6%) – Rejected an acquisition proposal from SGH (-1.9%) and Nasdaq-listed Steel Dynamics as “highly opportunistic”.
- Monadelphous (+2.2%) – Secured a four-year contract worth $110 million in aggregate with BW Offshore Australia to provide maintenance services at the BW Opal floating production storage and offloading facility in the Northern Territory.
- Seek (+1.6%) – Agreed to resolve a legal dispute with Employment Hero that began in mid-June. Employment Hero’s access to the Seek API will be reinstated.
What’s ahead:
- The US Department of Labor will release weekly unemployment claims data on Friday at 12:30am AEDT.
- The National Bureau of Statistics of China will release consumer price index and producer price index data for December on Friday at 12:30pm AEDT.
