ASX closes lower as DeepSeek selloff hits Aussie stocks
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The news: The Australian sharemarket ended lower after a mixed session as the emergence of DeepSeek had an impact on a wide range of stocks from energy to utilities and real estate.
The benchmark ASX 200 dropped 0.12% to end at 8,399.1 with six out of 11 sectors finishing in red.
Biggest ASX 200 movers:
- Uranium miners — Deep Yellow (-15.46%), Boss Energy (-10.41%), and Paladin Energy (-9.44%) were the worst performers after production at Kazakhstan’s Inkai resumed and as DeepSeek raised doubts on the forecasted surge in electricity demand for data centres.
- Goodman Group (-8.19%) — Data centre related stocks tumbled as DeepSeek said it uses less data at the fraction of the cost of incumbent services. Digico Infrastructure REIT (-11.53%), NextDC (-7.23%) and Megaport (-4.32%) also fell.
- Sigma Healthcare (12.22%) — Reported strong first-half sales figures for Chemist Warehouse, as it nears completion of its merger with the retail chain.
Other news:
- Nuix (-20.19%) — Announced that its first-half statutory EBITDA would likely be 7% to 19% lower compared to the prior corresponding period.
- Stanmore Resources (-7.99%) — Reported weaker production and sales in the December quarter.
- ASX (-5.12%) — Morgan Stanley analysts downgraded the bourse operator to ‘underweight’.
- Viva Energy (-3.66%) — Tracked global energy falls following DeepSeek’s emergence. It also flagged that conditions remained challenging for retail and refining businesses.
- Gold Road (-2.83%) — Its 2025 guidance fell short of analyst estimates. Also, gold stocks tumbled after US President Donald Trump said he would impose tariffs on steel, aluminium and copper imports which boosted the US dollar but sent spot gold tumbling.
- Fortescue (0.37%) — Has moved to acquire Pilbara-focused iron ore firm Red Hawk Mining for $254 million.
- Arisocrat Leisure (4.21%) — Goldman Sachs upgraded its rating on the poker machine company to 'buy'.
- Dropsuite (30.46%) — Received a $402 million takeover proposal from US-based IT platform NinjaOne.
The Australian dollar is buying 62.54 US cents.
What’s ahead:
- Overnight will see the latest US consumer confidence figures.
- On Wednesday, all eyes will be on the latest inflation figures, which will make or break the case for a February interest rate cut.
- Earnings on Wednesday will include Atlas Arteria, Boss Energy, Perseus Mining and Whitehaven Coal.
