ASX ends higher
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The news: The Australian sharemarket has ended the trading day higher after a mixed session that saw gains from energy and financials.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 gained 0.22% to end at 8,109.9, with seven out of 11 sectors finishing in green.
The best performing sector was financials, up 1.14%, followed by energy (1.1%). Santos gained 1.11% after it agreed to divest a part stake in the Bayu Undan upstream project.
Downer EDI, up 2.95%, was one of the best performers across the ASX 200 as it extended last week’s gains off the back of its full-year results. Analysts from Macquarie and Morningstar upgraded their price targets and forecasts on the stock.
Woolworths ended 0.7% higher after announcing that it would sell its remaining stake in Endeavour Group for $383 million. Endeavour, however, fell 1.5%. Woolworths also announced that it received notice of three resolutions ahead of its annual general meeting, with shareholders pushing the supermarket to end its salmon farming operations in Macquarie Harbour in Tasmania.
Elsewhere, Cettire shares rocketed 30.95% as it rebounded from a double-digit intraday fall last Thursday after the luxury ecommerce platform reported a 34% fall in annual profit.
The worst performing sector was materials, down 1.11%, followed by telecommunication services (-0.9%). A pullback in the price of gold on Friday led to falls in gold stocks on the ASX including Bellevue Gold (-8.7%), Red 5 (-7.35%), Genesis Minerals (-3.08%), West African Resources (-2.45%) and Emerald Resources (-2.25%), and De Grey Mining (-2.05%).
Bellevue Gold was the worst performer across the ASX 200 despite announcing its first full-year profit in FY24 following the start of commercial production at its gold mine in Western Australia.
Meanwhile, Genesis Minerals fell despite increasing its FY25 production outlook due to an earlier restart at its Laverton mill.
REA Group shares tumbled 5.51% after announcing that it was considering a takeover bid for UK digital real estate platform Rightmove.
The Australian dollar is buying 67.77 US cents.
The context: Tuesday will see the Australian Bureau of Statistics release the latest figures for the balance of payments, the international investment position and government finance statistics.
