ASX ends flat, Insignia tumbles on takeover bid rejection
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The news: The Australian sharemarket has ended flat after a mixed trading day ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s next monetary policy meeting.
The benchmark ASX 200 edged 0.06% lower to end at 8,309.4 despite six out of 11 sectors finishing in green.
Biggest news:
- Insignia Financial (-4.17%) — Rejected a takeover bid from US private equity giant Bain Capital as the board believes it is not in the best interests of its shareholders.
- Nine Entertainment (-0.4%) — Chief sales officer Michael Stephenson has resigned after almost a decade in the role and will be replaced by the company’s Melbourne managing director Matt James.
Deals and funding:
- Mineral Resources (-0.84%) — Completed the sale of its exploration permits in the Perth Basin to Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting.
- Vulcan Energy (1.91%) — Signed a $1.45 billion conditional debt commitment from Export Finance Australia and seven commercial banks for the first phase of its Lionheart lithium project in Germany.
- MONEYME (6.06%) — Secured a $125 million funding facility with alternative asset investment platform iPartners.
People news:
- Capricorn Metals (-1.16%) — Announced that its chief executive Kim Massey will retire in January, and will be replaced by current chief operating officer Paul Criddle.
- Southern Cross Media (-0.88%) — Announced that its chief financial officer Tim Young will leave the media group at the end of January 2025.
- Xero (-0.28%) — Raised the remuneration of its CEO Sukhinder Singh Cassidy to recognise her “strong performance” and to ensure it is aligned with market benchmarks.
Other news:
- Dexus (0.3%) — Recorded a 2.1% decrease in the value of its portfolio during the six months to 31 December.
- Karoon Energy (1.19%) — Reversed earlier losses after it cut its full-year production guidance and Jarden analysts cut its price target on the stock.
- Mercury NZ (1.69%) — Announced the construction of a new $261 million wind farm on New Zealand's North Island.
- Mesoblast (2.06%) — Announced that it will be added to the Nasdaq biotechnology index as part of the annual recalculation of the index.
The Australian dollar is buying 63.13 US cents.
What’s ahead: All eyes will be on the US Federal Reserve as it makes its next monetary policy decision on Thursday at 6am AEDT. It is widely expected the Fed will make a 25 basis point cut.
ANZ, Elders and Incitec Pivot will hold their respective annual general meetings on Thursday.
