ASX edges higher; De Grey soars

The news: The Australian sharemarket closed slightly higher, as De Grey Mining shares rocketed on its buyout offer.

The benchmark ASX 200 lifted 0.14% to end at 8,447.9, with seven out of 11 sectors finishing in green.

The biggest movers:

• De Grey Mining (29.6%) and Northern Star Minerals (-5.25%) — Northern Star has agreed to buy De Grey for $5 billion. The companies were the best and worst performers across the ASX 200. Also, spot gold fell on renewed demand for the US dollar, leading to a gold miner selloff.
• Myer (12.26%) — The strong rally came despite no new announcements. The department store is set to hold its annual general meeting on 10 December.
• GQG (-14.04%) — UBS downgraded its rating on the fund manager due to a slowdown in flow momentum.

Other news:

• Metcash (2.24%) — Posted a steady first-half profit as increases in food and liquor earnings were offset by weaker trading activity in the hardware segment.
• WiseTech (1.12%) — Co-founder and director Maree Isaacs sold her stake in the logistics software company to former CEO and fellow co-founder Richard White.
• Chorus (1.48%) — Reaffirmed its full-year guidance as it plans to move to become an “all-fibre” business by 2030.
• Telstra (0.51%) — Announced it is acquiring prepaid mobile services provider Boost Mobile, with the deal expected to be completed this month.
• QBE (-0.3%) — Bell Potter analysts downgraded the company from ‘buy’ to ‘hold’ but lifted its price target after the insurer reported a steady third quarter.
• Westpac (-0.27%) — UBS upgraded its rating on the bank to 'buy' on expectations that it is likely to benefit from cost-cutting initiatives and has the lowest balance sheet leverage among the big four lenders.
• Netwealth (-5%) — Announced that it has reached $100 billion in funds under management.