ASX closes lower after touching new intraday peak
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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished lower after hitting a fresh intraday high as investors pulled back from healthcare and telecommunication services.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX200 ended down 0.11% to 7,887.9 with eight out of 11 sectors finishing in red. However, the benchmark reached a new intraday high of 7,901 during early trading.
The worst performing sector was telecommunication services, down 0.97%, followed by healthcare (-0.94%) and AREITs (-0.92%). Aussie Broadband was forced to sell down its stake in Superloop to 11.99%. Shares in Aussie Broadband finished up 1.12% while Superloop stocks fell 1.48%.
Top healthcare stocks finished lower including CSL (-0.68%), Cochlear (-0.34%), Resmed (-3.25%) and Sonic Healthcare (-0.17%).
The worst performer across the ASX200 was Orora, which finished 13.97% lower after it downgraded its earnings guidance due to softer demand and volumes across the packaging business.
Across the wider ASX, Cettire tumbled 15.06% after Bell Potter downgraded its rating from ‘buy’ to ‘hold’, while Synlait Milk fell 1.48% after posting a half-year loss and warned that it is facing material uncertainties with regard to its debt payments.
Meanwhile, the best performing sector was materials, up 1.08%, followed by energy (0.62%) and utilities (0.36%). Gold miners enjoyed gains today, following Wall Street as optimism that the US Federal Reserve would cut rates in June faded due to stronger than expected manufacturing data. West African Resources was up 7.08%, Evolution Mining was up 5.73%, as well as De Grey Mining (5.06%) and Genesis Minerals (4.31%).
Nickel Industries also rose (3.4%) after it announced that it had made a further acquisition of the Excelsior Nickel Cobalt (ENC) project in Indonesia. Paladin Energy shares ended the day 5.29% higher after it announced it had produced its first uranium concentrate from its Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia.
Elsewhere, ASX-listed wine stocks also enjoyed gains with Treasury Wine Estates finishing up 2.49% and Australian Vintage up 5% after China scrapped its tariffs on Australian wine late last week.
Mesoblast continued its rally as it rocketed 72.07% following last week’s announcement that the US Food and Drug Administration made a decision to allow the company to re-submit a licence application for a paediatric treatment.
Shipping company Austal finished the day up 10.46% after it announced that it had received a $1 billion takeover bid from its South Korean rival Hanwha.
The context: The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release the latest building approvals, household spending indicator, and international trade in goods data this week.
The latest US unemployment figures will also be released while Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell is due to speak at Stanford’s Business, Government and Society Forum on Thursday.
