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Market Wrap

ASX closes lower as WiseTech, Xero track US tech decline

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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished lower as the tech sector tracked losses in the US from the previous trading session and as the finance sector was weighed on by losses taken by the country’s biggest banks.

The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.51% to end at 8,927.7 with seven out of the 11 sectors finishing in red.

The tech sector (-2.7%) was the worst performer on the ASX, tracking US tech losses led by Dell and Nvidia on Friday. Wisetech (-3.5%), Xero (-4.1%) and TechnologyOne (-2.6%) all finished lower, although NextDC (+1.4%) finished higher.

The finance sector (-0.8%) also fell as Commonwealth Bank (-0.8%), Westpac (-0.9%), NAB (-0.6%) and ANZ (-0.3%) all fell.

Biggest movers:

  • Generation Development Group (-8.7%) – Was the worst performer on the ASX 200 although there was no company specific news.
  • Bapcor (-6.8%) – Macquarie analysts noted that the Autobarn owner delivered full-yer results on Friday that were softer than expected. The analysts also flagged that no specific FY26 guidance was provided.
  • Iron Ore miners – Shares in major iron ore miners ticked down as the index futures price on the Singapore exchange fell. BHP (-1.1%) and Rio Tinto (-1.3%) finished lower. Meanwhile, Fortescue (-4%) also finished lower as its shares began trading ex-dividend today.
  • Gold miners – Following earnings season, Macquarie re-rated a slew of gold mining stocks which were buoyed by a rally in the spot price today. Gold miners made up seven of the ASX 200's top 10 biggest gainers led by Capricorn Metals (+11.7%). Genesis Minerals (+11.5%) also announced that it has more than doubled its exploration budget for FY26.
  • Harvey Norman (+8.6%) – Citi analysts raised their target price on the white goods retailer after it posted better-than-expected FY25 results on Friday.

Deals news:

  • MAC Copper (-0.1%) – Shareholders voted in favour of South Africa-based Harmony Gold’s proposed $1.6 billion acquisition of the copper miner.
  • West African Resources – Suspended from quotation as the gold miner failed to make an announcement relating to a request from the Burkina Faso government to acquire an additional 35% stake in subsidiary Kiaka SA.
  • Elanor Investors Group – Will seek to resume trading of its shares after finalising its FY25 half-year accounts and annual reports as well as approving a $125 million investment from Rockworth Capital Partners and its takeover of Singapore-based real estate investment manager Firmus Capital. This could be as early as November after shareholders vote on the Rockworth investment and Firmus acquisition at an extraordinary general meeting.

Other news:

  • Pro Medicus (+0.1%) – US subsidiary Visage Imaging has been granted an Authority to Operate by the US Department of Veterans' Affairs.
  • Worley (-1.2%) – Appointed former Incitec Pivot CEO Jeanne Johns as an independent non-executive director.
  • Austal (-1.2%) – Founder and inaugural chair John Rothwell has retired after 38 years at the company. He stepped down as chair in July 2024 but had stayed on as a non-executive director until today.
  • PolyNovo – Entered a trading halt as it is set to publish a response to a news report that said its lower cost products could benefit from the US government health insurance agency's spending crackdown.

What’s ahead:

  • The US and Canada will have a bank holiday on 1 September.
  • The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release current account data for June tomorrow at 11:30am AEST.

By Brandon How