ASX ends higher; Life360 jumps while Insignia Financial tumbles

The news: The Australian sharemarket ended flat after a mixed trading day saw big gains by the energy sector and Life360 but significant falls by Insignia Financial and Aristocrat Leisure.

The ASX 200 gained 0.13% to end at 8,279.6 with six out of 11 sectors finishing in the green.

Biggest movers:

• Energy sector (+1.95%) — Energy stocks jumped on the back of positive news flow and a rally in global crude prices. Woodside (+3.43%) led gains as it signed a collaboration deal with Aramco to explore a potential equity investment and an LNG offtake agreement from Woodside’s Louisiana LNG project.
• Life360 (+9.46%) — Continued its rally after posting better-than-expected first-quarter revenue on Tuesday. However, Morningstar analysts warned that its shares were now overvalued.
• Aristocrat Leisure (-8.85%) — Reported a 22% drop in statutory half-year profit amid higher costs and taxes but lifted its interim dividend.
• Insignia Financial (-15.75%) — US private equity firm Bain Capital has dropped out of the race to acquire the company, citing macroeconomic uncertainty.

Other news:

• Webjet Group (+1.69%) — BGH Capital has made a non-binding proposal to take a controlling interest in the online travel agency.
• Commonwealth Bank (+0.82%) — Posted an increase in third-quarter cash profit on the back of higher lending and trading income.
• Nine Entertainment (+0.33) — Bruce Gordon’s WIN Group has increased its voting interest in Nine from 14.95% to 19.98% and its economic interest from 25.10% to 25.22%.
• NRW Holdings (halted) — Entered a trading halt as it prepares to make a statement on the impact of proposed South Australian legislation on the ownership of Whyalla Port.
• Macquarie Group (-1.6%) — ASIC is suing Macquarie Securities, accusing Macquarie Group's cash brokering arm of engaging in misleading conduct by misreporting millions of short sales for over 14 years.
• Centuria Industrial REIT (-0.98%) — Reaffirmed its full-year guidance after reporting strong leasing activity across its portfolio.
• Alliance Aviation (-4.06%) — Lowered its profit guidance due to aircraft damage, industrial action, and issues relating to the North Queensland Floods and Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
• PolyNovo (-9.58%) — Its shares reversed most of Tuesday’s gains on its study of its Novosorb BTM device for the treatment and management of type-1 diabetes.
• Mayne Pharma (-15.61%) — The US Food and Drug Administration made claims that the company underrepresented the risks of its oral birth control pill. The company has said that it took the "views of the FDA seriously" but did not regard the letter as materially price sensitive.