ASX ends flat
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The news: The Australian sharemarket ended almost flat as it took cues from Wall Street as sentiment fell due to poor earnings reports from Alphabet and Tesla.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.09% to end at 7,963.7, with eight out of 11 sectors finishing in red.
The worst performing sector was real estate, down 1.6%, followed by energy (-1.09%). Arena REIT fell 3.28% after it announced the completion of its $120 million institutional placement that was a 4.5% discount to Arena’s closing price on Monday.
Telix Pharmaceuticals, down 6.84%, was the worst performer across the ASX 200 after announcing it had raised $650 million through a convertible bond issue. It also said the US Food and Drug Administration accepted its application for a proprietary cold kit for the preparation of imaging for prostate cancer.
Iluka Resources fell 5.17% after analysts trimmed their forecasts on the stock following a hit to its first-half earnings.
Meanwhile, Flight Centre shares dropped 4.48% after announcing a fall in its full-year profit and revenue guidance following cuts in airfares, challenging market conditions and impairments.
Perpetual shares fell 1.01% after posting a $12.4 billion fall in its assets under management and $8.9 billion in net outflows.
Elsewhere, Worley edged 0.07% lower after it was awarded a mandate by UK-based power company VPI to support the Humber Zero Carbon Capture project.
The best performing sector was materials, up 0.4%, followed by financials (0.15%). Gold stocks made up eight of the top 10 performers across the ASX 200 as spot gold prices moved higher. Emerald Resources (5.76%), Red 5 (5.77%), West African Resources (4.56%), Bellevue Gold (3.38%), Ramelius Resources (3.92%), Genesis Minerals (2.59%), Evolution Mining (3.43%) and Gold Road Resources (2.56%) all made gains.
West African also announced that it was on track to achieve the upper end of its full-year production guidance, despite a 10% dip in Q2 production compared to the previous quarter.
Elsewhere, Austal (0.39%) and Civmec (4.43%) both ended higher after agreeing to a joint venture to submit a proposal to the federal government to build naval ships.
APM Human Resources rose 1.44% after posting higher year-on-year revenue, but lower earnings and profit for FY24.
Pilbara Minerals gained 0.17% after announcing it had "achieved or exceeded" its full-year production guidance. However, the falling lithium price weighed on its revenue.
The Australian dollar is lower buying 65.95 US cents.
The context: Tonight will see the latest US flash manufacturing and services purchasing managers’ index figures released.
Thursday will see Macquarie hold its annual general meeting while Coronado, Fortescue, Karoon, Northern Star, Sandfire, Strike energy, and Sayona will post earnings.
