ASX ends higher as Guzman y Gomez jumps 10% on US exit

The news: The Australian sharemarket ended higher as miners (+1.3%) and energy (+1.1%) paced gains.

The benchmark ASX 200 index rose 0.41% to 8,657, with seven of the 11 sectoral indices in positive territory.

Biggest movers:

• Guzman y Gomez (+9.6%) — Announced its exit from the US market following a failure to meet financial targets.
• Seek (-5.6%) — Ended as the worst performer on the ASX 200 as communications services peers REA Group (-4.1%), CAR Group (-2.8%) and Telstra (-1.5%) all sold off.

Deal news:

• Tuas (flat) — Terminated plans to acquire Singaporean telco M1 for $1.6 billion as Singapore’s telecommunications regulator looks into possible unauthorised use of radio frequency bands.
• Codan (+0.9%) — Acquired US-based engineering company Adaptive Dynamics in a $21 million deal, with completion expected in the first half of FY27.
• Mayne Pharma (+3.0%) — Awarded $13.3 million in legal costs following Supreme Court proceedings against former suitor Cosette Pharmaceuticals last year.
• Monadelphous (+2.3%) — Secured new maintenance and construction contracts across the resource and renewable energy sectors valued at around $120 million.