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Market Wrap

ASX closes lower; energy, tech stocks drag

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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished lower as energy and tech stocks led broad losses on the ASX, although DroneShield stocks surged on a European contract win.

The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.42% to end at 8,598.9 as nine of the 11 sectors finished in the red.

The tech sector (-2.5%) was the worst performing as WiseTech Global (-2.9%), Xero (-2.1%), Technology One (-1.4%), NextDC (-2.7%) and Life360 (-6.4%) fell.

The energy sector (-2.2%) also fell as Woodside (-2.3%), Santos (-2.1%) and Yancoal (-4.5%) finished lower. Uranium miners Deep Yellow (-5.1%), Paladin energy (-4.8%) and Boss Energy (-3.7%) were also among the biggest losers on the ASX 200.

Biggest movers:

  • Articore Group (-7.3%) – Appointed Derek Yung as its chief financial officer who will join in January 2026. Incumbent Curtis Davies will move into a deputy group CFO role.
  • DroneShield (+22.2%) – Secured a $49.6 million contract with an unnamed European military end-customer. It was the biggest gainer on the ASX 200.

Executive moves:

  • Lendlease (-2.7%) – Simon Dixon will step down as chief financial officer on 28 February 2026 as part of a leadership transition following his relocation to Asia.
  • Star Entertainment Group (0%) – CEO and managing director Steve McCann has departed the business but will be available through a handover period until 8 July 2026. The role will be filled by executive chair Bruce Mathieson Jnr while a permanent replacement is sought.

Other news:

  • REA Group (-1.7%) – Fell after Google announced it is testing a new format that places homes-for-sale ads directly at the top of search results, rather than directing users to third-party sites.
  • Ramelius Resources (-1.6%) – Bought part of the Lake Rebecca gold project in Western Australia from ASX micro cap Bulletin Resources for $500,000.
  • Perseus Mining (-0.2%) – Does not intend to submit a revised takeover offer for ASX small cap Predictive Discovery, however it believes that Predictive's preferred merger deal with Canada's Robex Resources remains inferior to Perseus’ proposal.
  • Rio Tinto (+0.3%) – Announced it will progress a $294 million joint venture feasibility study to develop the Rhodes Ridge project in Western Australia’s Pilbara.

What’s ahead:

  • Treasurer Jim Chalmers will release the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook on Wednesday.
  • The US Bureau of Labor will release employment and wages data for November as well as core retail sales data for October on Tuesday at 12:30am AEDT.
  • S&P Global will release flash purchasing managers’ index data for the manufacturing and services sectors on Wednesday at 1:45am AEDT.

By Brandon How