ASX closes lower as oil majors drop following OPEC+ output boost
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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished lower with the energy sector leading losses as shares in oil majors fell following news that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners (OPEC+) agreed to increase oil output from October.
The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.24% to end at 8,849.6 with eight out of the 11 sectors finishing in red.
The energy sector (-1.6%) was the worst performing as oil producers Woodside Energy (-2.7%) and Santos (-1.2%) finished lower. Karoon Energy (-1.2%) and Beach Energy (-1.7%) also finished lower.
Biggest movers:
- Mayne Pharmaceuticals (-14.8%) – Sought to alleviate fears that being acquired by Cosette Pharmaceuticals could lead to the closure of Mayne’s manufacturing facility in Salisbury, South Australia. Cosette Pharmaceuticals said the announcement, which contains statements relating to the FIRB, “contains material inaccuracies”.
- Smartgroup Corporation (-4.4%) – Will be removed from the ASX 200 index and on Monday started trading ex-dividend. The ASX 200 quarterly rebalance was announced on Friday, with PolyNovo (-3.6%) and Amotiv (-3.9%) also to be removed.
- Super Retail Group (-4.2%) – Also started trading ex-dividend on Monday.
- Life360 (+6.2%) – The best performing stock on the ASX 200 despite there being no company specific news.
Deals news:
- PointsBet (0%) – Confirmed that it is now a subsidiary of MIXI, after the Japanese group took its shareholding to 51.59% following a months-long takeover battle with fellow PoinstBet shareholder Betr Entertainment. MIXI said it would move to block Betr from being represented on PointsBet’s board.
- Elanor Commercial Property Fund (-0.7%) – Described Lederer group’s takeover bid as “opportunistic” in an investor presentation outlining the reasons for the board’s opposition to the bid. Elanor's independent board committee chair Ian Mackie argued the offer “lacks essential detail”.
Other news:
- Woolworths (+0.5%) and Coles (-0.8%) – Outlined hundreds of millions in new remediation costs after a judgment by the Federal Court on Friday over the alleged underpayment of salaried managers.
- Treasury Wine Estates (-1.9%) – Appointed former NZX chief executive and Olympic swimmer Mark Weldon to the company's board as an independent non-executive director, effective 1 October.
- Cobram Estate Olives – Entered a trading halt ahead of a capital raise announcement.
What’s ahead:
- NAB will release its monthly business sentiment survey for August tomorrow at 11:30am AEST.
