ASX closes lower; BHP drags, Woodside gains on commodity prices
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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished lower as a fall in iron ore index futures prices weighed on the mining sector, offsetting gains in the energy sector spurred by higher oil prices.
The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.49% to end at 8666.9 with seven of the 11 sectors finishing in the red.
Energy (+1.8%) was the best performing sectoral index as Woodside (+3.7%) and Santos (+1%) tracked higher oil prices. Meanwhile, the materials sector was the worst performing as BHP (-1.9%), Fortescue (-3.4%) and Rio Tinto (-0.8%) tracked a fall in iron ore index futures prices.
Commonwealth Bank (-0.4%), NAB (-0.4%), Westpac (-0.8%) and ANZ (-0.7%) all finished lower.
Biggest movers:
- Champion Iron (-4.9%) – The iron ore miner was the worst performer on the ASX 200.
- Gold miners – Shares in Genesis Minerals (-4.2%), Regis Resources (-3.4%) and Evolution Mining were among the biggest losers on the ASX 200 as the spot rate of gold dipped. Newmont (+3.8%) bucked the trend after announcing a USD3 billion ($4.6 billion) share buyback and posting higher income for Q2.
- Infratil (+3.8%) – Best performer on the ASX 200 after declaring that chief financial officer Andrew Carroll and several directors increased their shareholdings through a dividend reinvestment. The stock was added to the index on 23 July.
- PEXA (+3.1%) – Posted gains for a second day in a row after announcing that UK lender NatWest made a formal commitment to deliver remortgages, sale and purchase transactions on PEXA's platform.
- Lifestyle Communities (+2.4%) – Received stayed orders to stop charging deferred management fees from Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal president Ted Woodward after he found they were void and unenforceable.
Executive moves:
- KMD Brands (+4.4%) – The Rip Curl and Kathmandu owner appointed Qantas executive Carla Webb-Sear as its new chief financial officer.
- Steadfast Group (-1.5%) – The insurance broker’s chief financial officer Stephen Humphrys will resign on 31 August after nearly 13 years in the role.
Other news:
- Regal Partners (+9%) – Reported a 7% increase in funds under management (FUM) for the June quarter, as net inflows hit $600 million.
- Titomic (+7.7%) – Completed a $50 million share placement with institutional and sophisticated investors.
- NAB (-0.4%) – Satisfied its obligations under a court-enforceable undertaking agreed to with the financial crime watchdog AUSTRAC. The agreement aimed to address compliance with aspects of Australia's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.
- Whitehaven Coal (-1.1%) – Reported that run-of-mine production for FY25 was up 60% compared to the previous year.
- Maas Group (-1.7%) – Subsidiary Capital Asphalt has been caught in a NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation relating to a period prior to Maas ownership.
What's ahead:
- The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release its maintenance strategy for keeping the Occupation Standard Classification for Australia up to date on Monday at 11:30am.
