ASX closes lower; Westpac falls as it cuts 200 jobs
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: The Australian sharemarket has finished lower as the finance sector led losses. Earlier today, the Finance Sector Union told media that Westpac was cutting 200 bank teller jobs over the next 12 months.
The latest monthly consumer price index indicator was also released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today. The indicator lifted by 3% in the year to August, above the 2.9% expected by economists and the 2.8% lift in the year to July.
The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.92% to end at 8,7654.5 with nine out of the 11 sectors finishing in red.
The finance sector (-1.8%) fell as Commonwealth Bank (-1.4%), NAB (-2.3%), Westpac (-3.2%), ANZ (-1.8%) and Macquarie Group (-1.8%).
The newly merged entity of Soul Patts and Brickworks, which adopted the ticker SOL and the name Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company (-4.3%), fell on the first day of trading on a normal settlement basis.
Biggest movers:
- Telix Pharmaceuticals (-5.6%) – UBS analysts cut back their target price.
- Atlas Arteria (-5.5%) – Traded ex-dividend today.
- James Hardie (-4.8%) – Released 2025 annual general meeting materials overnight that noted that most directors, including the chair, are up for re-election. A Citi analyst also flagged that the material seemed to suggest a softer outlook than consensus.
- DroneShield (+6.2%) – On Tuesday, the counter-drone technology company said it is "significantly expanding" its research and development operations in the United States, including adding a second location to its US headquarters in Virginia. Was the biggest gainer on the ASX 200 today.
- Deterra Royalties (+2.2%) – Agreed to sell its non-core gold offtake assets, alongside its St Ives and Dandoko gold royalties, to Nasdaq- and Toronto-listed Vox Royalty Corp for a combined $91 million.
- Liontown Resources (+1.7%) – Appointed Greg Jason as its chief financial officer, effective 18 December, who will move from Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia. Also appointed MMA Offshore’s executive general manager human resources Lisa Breen as chief people officer, effective 13 October. Other lithium miners Pilbara Minerals (+5.2%) and Mineral Resources (+4.5%) also lifted.
Other news:
- Platinum Asset Management (-2.1%) – UBS has hiked its price target on Platinum Asset Management after the fund manager's proposed merger with L1 Capital received shareholder approval on Monday.
- The Star Entertainment Group (-2.1%) – The suspension of The Star Sydney casino licence has been extended by six months to the end of March 2026.
- ASX Limited (-1.2%) – ASX Clear and ASX Settlement “continue to be rated as ‘not observed’ on the operational risk standard" according to the RBA, which released its annual assessment of ASX’s clearing and settlement facilities.
- Super Retail Group (-0.4%) – Confidentially settled workplace litigation relating to former CEO Anthony Heraghty's alleged affair with the company's previous HR boss Jane Kelly for "an amount less than" the previously expected range of between $30 million and $50 million.
- Tuas (-0.1%) – Reported a swing to full-year profit of SGD6.9 million ($8.1 million) as revenue was boosted by an increase of 200,000 customers for its core mobile service.
- KMD Brands (0%) – The Rip Curl and Kathmandu owner slipped to a deeper statutory loss for the 12 months to July, flagging "global cost pressure" in the sector while the group's footwear brand Oboz took a $45.4 million impairment.
- Infratil (+1.1%) – Confirmed that its part-owned data centre developer CDC has secured 100 megawatts of new contracted capacity.
- Lynas Rare Earths (+0.1%) – Completed a $182 million share purchase plan, more than double its initial target of $75 million.
What’s ahead:
- No major events or economic data releases overnight or tomorrow.
