ASX closes lower; Life360 leads tech rout, rate hike expectations weigh
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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished lower as Life360 led losses in the slumping tech sector and as higher than expected inflation for December forced economists to bring forward their rate hike expectations.
The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.09% to end at 8,933.9 with nine of the 11 sectors finishing in the red.
The tech sector was the worst performing as Life360 (-7.6%) continued to face profit-taking after surging on Friday after reporting an improved outlook. WiseTech Global (-3.8%), Xero (-1.9%), Technology One (-2.4%) and NextDC (-2.7%) also fell.
Higher than expected consumer price index data for December saw economists bring forward their rate hike expectations, with even the most dovish anticipating the RBA will raise rates next week. The ASX 200 fell following the news.
Biggest movers:
- Boss Energy (+10%) – Lowered cost guidance for its Honeymoon mine as the uranium producer hit production in the December quarter.
- AUB Group (-4.7%) – Successfully raised $400 million through a discounted institutional placement to help fund a $432 million takeover of UK broker Prestige.
Executive and board moves:
- Bank of Queensland (-1.9%) – Named its chief transformation and operations officer Rod Finch as CEO and managing director, starting 1 March.
- Domino’s Pizza Enterprises (-0.3%) – Appointed Super Retail chair Judith Swales as an independent non-executive director, starting 24 February.
- Cleanaway (0%) – Experienced non-executive and IGO (-2.9%) chair Vanessa Guthrie has been appointed to the board of the waste management business, effective 1 February.
Other news:
- Ampol (-3.9%) – Set to report an 11% drop in sales volumes for the fourth quarter, according to unaudited figures released this morning.
- Greatland Resources (-0.6%) – Generated $507 million of revenue in the December quarter, even as gold sales dipped at the end of the first full year of operations for the gold miner at its Telfer project in Western Australia.
- Woodside (+2.7%) – Reported a record full-year production, exceeding guidance, even after a slide in fourth-quarter output due to weather impacts and lower east-coast demand.
What’s ahead:
- US Federal Reserve will make its first interest rate decision of the year on Thursday at 6:00am AEDT.
