ASX ends higher after CPI opens door for Feb rate cut; Star surges

The news: Local stocks rose and the Australian dollar fell after the latest inflation figures opened the door for a February rate cut.

The benchmark ASX 200 gained 0.57% to end at 8,447, with nine out of 10 sectors finishing in green.

Biggest movers:

• Star Entertainment (13.04%) — Agreed to divest The Star Sydney Event Centre, and other spaces within The Star Sydney complex, to Foundation Theatres for $60 million.
• Premier Investments (-20.65%) — Distributed all Myer (-5.21%) shares it owned to its shareholders as part of its deal to offload its apparel brands business to the department store chain. Morningstar lowered its fair value estimate for Premier as a result.

Quarterly earnings:

• Boss Energy (5.63%) — Announced its flagship Honeymoon uranium project is on track to meet its full-year production guidance, after commercial production began on 1 January 2025.
• DroneShield (4.07%) — Reported a bump in 2024 revenue and has also secured three new contracts with a military customer in an unnamed Asia Pacific country.
• Perseus Mining (3.66%) — Lifted production in its second quarter and reaffirmed it is on track to achieve full-year guidance.
• Pilbara Minerals (3.51%) — Reported better-than-expected production and sales in the December quarter and said revenue rose 3% as prices edged higher.
• Ramelius Resources (3.02%) — Output in the December quarter grew and the gold miner reaffirmed its full-year production guidance.
• Atlas Arteria (1.83%) — Lifted revenue in the fourth quarter on the back of higher traffic and price increases, ahead of analyst expectations.
• Whitehaven Coal (ended flat) — Flagged that it is on track to reach the upper half of its full-year guidance, as production for the December quarter came in flat compared to the previous quarter.