ASX ends 0.8% lower after late rally; gold miners surge
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The news: The Australian sharemarket ended 0.82% lower, more than halving early declines.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 63.1 points to 7,646.5, with 10 of its 11 sectoral indices in the red.
That took losses to 3.6% since the announcement of the Trump administration's "Liberation Day" tariffs last week, which ignited an escalation in trade tensions between the US and China and triggered historic swings in global markets.
Healthcare (-2.7%) was the worst performing sector as investors braced for impending US tariffs on pharmaceutical imports. Utilities (2.1%) and energy (1.8%) stocks also lost ground, while a 2% advance by Wesfarmers helped consumer discretionary (0.4%) end as the only sector in the green.
Gold miners were the biggest winners, making up nine of the 10 best performing ASX 200 stocks as spot prices surged to record highs.
The Australian dollar held Thursday's advance against the greenback and was last buying 62 US cents.
Biggest ASX 200 moves:
- Emerald Resources (8.4%) — Ended as the top performer as gold miners soared, with investors turning to the safe haven metal amid increasing market uncertainty.
- Mesoblast (-9.2%) — Appeared to take the biggest hit from the threat of a possible new US tariff on pharmaceutical products. The Melbourne-based biotech announced the commercial launch of its cell therapy product Ryoncil in the US last month.
Other news:
- EBOS Group (-4.5%) — Completed a $200 million equity placement to support its recent acquisitions of veterinary wholesaler SVS Veterinary Supplies and medical device distributor Transmedic.
- Ramsay Health Care (-3.8%) — Named deputy CFO Mike Hirner as the interim replacement for outgoing chief financial officer Martyn Roberts.
- Netwealth (-3.5%) — Upgraded by Jarden after investment platform talked up its flow outlook into fiscal 2026.
What's ahead:
- Tuesday — The Reserve Bank will publish minutes from its April meeting, where it opted to leave the cash rate unchanged at 4.1% (12:30pm AEST).
- Wednesday — China will release monthly industrial production and retail sales figures, as well as GDP growth rate for the March quarter (1pm AEST). The US will post monthly retail sales figures (11:30pm AEST).
- Thursday — The Australian Bureau of Statistics will publish monthly labour force and building activity data (11:30am AEST).
