ASX ends lower
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The news: The Australian sharemarket ended lower, tracking losses on Wall Street and a drag from consumer discretionary.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.13% to end at 8,198.2, with eight out of 11 sectors finishing in red.
The worst performing sector was consumer discretionary, down 1.73%, followed by IT (-1.58%). Accent Group tumbled 3.43% despite announcing a distribution deal with Lacoste and Dickies which E&P analysts described as positive.
JB Hi-Fi slipped 0.57% as it announced its long-time chief financial officer Nick Wells had been appointed to the newly created chief operations officer role while David Giansalvo would be promoted to the CFO role.
SiteMinder fell 1.1% after it announced that its first angel investor and non-executive director Les Szekely will sell most of his 5.5% shareholding for $85.4 million and retire from its board in December.
REA Group dropped 0.43% as Morningstar analysts trimmed their fair value estimate on the company after it abandoned its takeover bid for the UK’s Rightmove.
Growthpoint ended 0.37% lower after announcing it had sold its entire holding in Dexus Industria REIT for $131.7 million to support debt repayments. Dexus Industria REIT fell 2.45%.
The best performing sector was energy, up 2.35%, followed by utilities (0.97%). Oil and gas majors surged after oil prices rose on fears that the escalating conflict in the Middle East may disrupt Iranian production.
Karoon Energy (7.87%), Beach Energy (4.62%), Woodside Energy (3.42%) and Santos (2.86%) all rallied and were in the top 10 performing stocks across the ASX 200. Santos also announced that it signed a mid-term deal to supply liquefied natural gas to TotalEnergies Gas & Power Asia.
Sigma Healthcare was the best performing ASX 200 company after it surged 8.5%, extending Tuesday's double-digit gains. The competition regulator invited submissions on the pharmacy wholesaler's proposed remedy to address concerns over its proposed acquisition with Chemist Warehouse.
KMD Brands gained 1.08% as it appointed Brent Scrimshaw as its new group chief executive, after current CEO Michael Daly resigned.
MFF Capital Investments increased 0.52% after it agreed to buy global fund manager Montaka Global as it looks to strengthen its capabilities.
Commonwealth Bank edged 0.39% higher after it revamped its executive leadership team by appointing a new chief risk officer, chief operations officer and group executive for human resources following impending retirements.
The Australian dollar is buying 68.84 US cents.
The context: Tonight will see the latest US non-farm employment change figures.
