ASX closes lower as Santos plunges
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: The Australian sharemarket finished lower as oil and gas producer Santos saw its share price collapse after a consortium led by ADNOC's foreign investment arm XRG canned its $36 billion acquisition proposal overnight.
The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.83% to end at 8,745.2 with 10 out of the 11 sectors finishing in red.
The energy sector (-5.9%) was by far the biggest loser, as XRG’s bid for Santos (-11.9%) was scuppered by a looming tax liability, regulatory demands and gas supply tensions after months of fraught negotiations.
Other ASX-listed oil producers were also big losers as major oil index prices tracked down. Woodside (-6.3%), Karoon Energy (-3.5%) and Beach Energy (-4.5%) were among the biggest losers.
The Australian government also committed to a 2035 emissions reduction target range for between 62% and 70%.
Biggest movers:
- Magellan Financial (-4.2%) – Macquarie analysts downgraded their rating on Magellan Financial Group from ‘neutral’ to ‘underperform’ due to lower expected associate profits, higher sub-advisory fees, and lower distribution income.
- Nuix (+9.5%) – Secured a multiyear contract to supply forensic software to the tax authority of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Biggest gainer on the ASX 200.
- Uranium miners – Boss Energy (+4.5%), Paladin Energy (+4.4%) and Deep Yellow (+2.9%) rallied after falling in the previous session.
Executive and board moves:
- Genesis Energy (-2.3%) – Appointed Macquarie Asset Management senior managing director David Baldwin to its board, effective 1 October.
- Endeavour Group (+0.6%) – Tapped Woolworths executive Jeanette Fenske as its new managing director of BWS.
- Domino’s Pizza Enterprises (+0.2%) – Non-executive director Lynda O’Grady has stepped down, effective immediately, after more than a decade on the board.
Other news:
- Commonwealth Bank (-2.3%) – The bank’s venture-scaling arm x15ventures announced a strategic partnership to support innovation with fintech-focused fund Triple Bubble.
- Macquarie Group (-0.1%) – Reportedly held talks to acquire Carlyle Group earlier this year, although they have since fizzled.
- La Trobe Private Credit Fund (0%) – The corporate regulator has issued interim stop orders on the La Trobe 12 Month Term Account after alleging deficiencies in the target market determination.
- Wesfarmers (+0.04%) – The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner determined that Wesfarmers subsidiary Kmart was unlawfully using a facial recognition technology system to combat refund fraud at 28 retail stores between June 2020 and July 2022.
What’s ahead:
- The US Department of Labor will release weekly data on new unemployment insurance claims tonight at 10:30pm AEST.
- The Bank of Japan is expected to make an interest rate decision on Friday.
