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ASX closes lower; BHP, Rio Tinto, Fortescue fall as China eases iron ore restrictions

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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished lower as iron ore majors and gold miners pushed the materials sector lower and as titanium mining and alloy manufacturing business IperionX slumped more than 22%.

The benchmark ASX 200 index fell 0.39% to 8,583.4, with five sectoral indices ending in negative territory.

The materials sector (-2.2%) was the worst performer as iron ore majors BHP (-1.2%), Fortescue (-3.9%) and Rio Tinto (-2%) slumped as the price of the commodity on the Singapore exchange fell after state-owned China Mineral Resources Group temporarily eased restrictions on BHP’s Jimblebar iron ore.

Gold miners also fell as the spot price eased from record highs set in the early days of the US-Israel war with Iran. Regis Resources (-8.3%), Bellevue Gold (-7.3%) and Vault Minerals (-5.5%) were among the biggest losers on the ASX 200.

IperionX (-22.2%) saw its market capitalisation plummet by almost $400 million after correcting a “typographical error” in its half-year accounts on Friday evening.

Biggest movers:

  • Tetratherix (+22.4%) — Announced a new nasal delivery precision medicine franchise that includes an exclusive research and development agreement with health tech startup Superpower, which will pay an annual exclusive licence fee of USD3 million for up to 10 years.
  • Reliance Worldwide Corporation (+6.9%) — Announced a further on-market share buyback of $120 million to return excess capital to shareholders. The dive extended the critical minerals firm’s losses to more than 40% since the release of its financials on Thursday.

Other news:

  • Telix Pharmaceuticals (-2.8%) — Resubmitted the requested new drug application for its progressive glioma (brain cancer) imaging, TLX101-pX, to the US Food and Drug Administration.
  • Perseus Mining (-2.8%) — Signed a share purchase agreement to sell its 70% group interest in the Meyas Sand project in Sudan to Hong Kong Matrix Golden Fortune Mining, a wholly owned subsidiary of Matrix Resources, for USD260 million.
  • Orica (-1.7%) — Paid USD169.5 million ($242.5 million) to settle litigation with ammonium nitrate supplier CF Industries in the US.
  • Pro Medicus (-1%) — Chief financial officer Clayton Hatch has moved into the newly created roles of head of business operations and head of investor relations, effective 16 March. Danny English is being promoted to chief financial officer.
  • Macquarie Group (-0.7%) — The New South Wales Supreme Court ordered Macquarie Securities to pay a $35 million fine after the court found multiple systems-related failures, which caused the misreporting of tens of millions of short sales over several years.
  • Guzman y Gomez (+3.2%) — Co-CEO Hilton Brett expected to reduce his day-to-day responsibilities later this year as he undergoes a kidney transplant.
  • Perpetual (+1.8%) — Agreed to sell its wealth management business to Bain Capital for a fee of up to $550 million.
  • Lynas Rare Earths (+1.4%) — Signed a USD96 million ($137.22 million) binding letter of intent to finalise an offtake agreement with the US Department of War at a floor price of USD110 per kilogram to supply NdPr over a four year period.

What’s ahead:

  • The Reserve Bank of Australia will make a cash rate decision at 2:30pm AEDT on Tuesday.
  • RBA governor Michele Bullock will hold a press conference following the decision at 3:30pm AEDT.

By Brandon How