ASX closes lower; consumer discretionary sector leads losses for second day
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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished lower as the consumer discretionary sector led broad losses for a second session in a row following the release of weak Australian consumer sentiment data on Tuesday and US consumer sentiment data overnight.
The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.10% to end at 8,947.6 with seven out of the 11 sectors finished in red.
The consumer discretionary sector (-1.5%) was the worst performing sector for the second day in a row after the US Federal Reserve released data indicating an increase in consumer price expectations one year ahead.
The Royal Bank of New Zealand also made a larger-than-expected 50 basis point cut to the official cash rate amid "weak" economic activity through the middle of 2025.
Wesfarmers (-2.2%), Aristocrat (-1.3%), JB Hi-Fi (-1.3%), The Lottery Corporation (-0.5%) and Harvey Norman (-0.7%) all finished lower.
Biggest movers:
- James Hardie (+9.9%) – Released preliminary second-quarter results that topped market expectations. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between USD326 million and USD331 million, up from USD263 million.
- Mesoblast (+9.4%) – Rallied for the second straight session, after reporting a 66% jump in gross revenue from its Ryoncil cell therapy in the second quarter. Bell Potter analysts maintained a ‘buy’ recommendation on the stock and increased their valuation from $3.50 to $4.
- DroneShield (+7.8%) – Announced a software update for sensor and effector technologies. DroneShield chief product and technology officer Angus Bean said the company now has “the world’s largest proprietary drone signal database”.
- Lifestyle Communities (+5.4%) – Released first quarter trading results for financial year 2026, which demonstrated “positive progress” amid a “generally soft” residential property market in Victoria.
- NRW Holdings (+3%) – Upgraded its full-year guidance after announcing the completion of its $200 million acquisition of Fredon Industries.
Deals news:
- MA Financial (-1.1%) – The asset manager and Singapore Stock Exchange-listed Keppel REIT jointly acquired Top Ryde City Shopping Centre for $525 million.
- Johns Lyng (-0.3%) – Shareholders voted in favour of the company's proposed $1.1 billion takeover by private markets investor Pacific Equity Partners, announced in June.
- Pro Medicus (+0.7%) – Signed a $10 million deal with University Hospital Heidelberg and the German Cancer Research Institute to provide its flagship Visage 7 enterprise imaging platform for five years.
Executive and board moves:
- Healius (-1.8%) – Announced the appointment of Andrew Thomson as its new chief financial officer following the retirement of Steve Humphries, effective 13 October.
- Alliance Aviation Services (0%) – Founder Scott McMillan will step down from his role as managing director on 27 November, concluding a more than 12-month transition period to joint managing director Stewart Tully.
- Betr (+1.9%) – Added chief executive Andrew Menz and former NRL and Nine Entertainment executive Alexi Baker to its board.
Other news:
- Catalyst Metals (-1.8%) – Produced 2,000 ounces of gold less than planned due to reduced availability of a processing facility amid maintenance and testing. Meanwhile, the spot price of gold surged past USD4,000 ($6097) per ounce.
- Magellan Financial Group (+0.9%) – Saw its assets under management lift $600 million during the September quarter.
What’s ahead:
- The US Federal Reserve will release the minutes from the last meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, which was undertaken ahead of the central bank’s first rate cut of the year, tomorrow at 5:00am AEDT.
