ASX ends lower as materials drag
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The news: The Australian sharemarket ended Tuesday lower as declines by mining majors Fortescue Metals, BHP, IGO and Perseus Mining saw the materials sector tumble.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.46% to close at 7,953.2, with 8 of 11 sectors ending in red.
The best performing sector was consumer discretionary, up 0.19%, followed by consumer staples (0.11%).
Credit Corp was the top performer across the ASX 200, rising 13.55%, after the debt collector posted mixed full-year results but presented a positive outlook for FY25.
The weakest-performing sector was materials, down 1.82%, followed by information technology (-0.77%).
Fortescue Metals saw the biggest drop among ASX 200 stocks, ending 9.98% lower after media reports suggesting JPMorgan was looking to sell $1.9 billion of discounted stock in the mining group on behalf of an unnamed institutional investor.
Fellow miners IGO (-4.41%) and Perseus Mining (-4.26%) also took hits to their share prices. IGO shares slipped on a mixed Q4 result for the critical minerals play, while Perseus shares fell after the gold miner reported lower output and higher costs compared to the prior year.
BHP also shed 1.38% after agreeing to buy Toronto-listed copper explorer Filo Corp with Canada’s Lundin Mining for a joint $4.5 billion.
Oil majors Karoon Energy (-1.63%), Woodside Energy (-0.92%), Santos (-0.38%) and Ampol (-0.54%) all lost ground as crude traded near seven-week lows on a softening demand outlook and as traders remained cautious ahead of US and Japan central bank meetings this week.
Star Entertainment pared recent gains, closing 0.85% lower, after the casino operator told the ASX that it was unaware of any new information that could explain a surge in its share price since Friday.
Shares in Ramsay Healthcare dropped 4.20% after Australia's largest private hospital operator said long-serving CEO Craig McNally will retire in June 2025 and named Woolworths' supermarkets boss Natalie Davis as his successor.
Telix Pharmaceuticals lowered after completing its $650 million raise through the issue of convertible notes.
Meanwhile, Rex Airlines remains in a trading halt on the ASX, as Bloomberg reported the regional carrier is set to appoint Ernst & Young as administrators as soon as Wednesday.
The Australian dollar is higher, buying 66 US cents.
The context: ASX majors Champion Iron, Rio Tinto, and Centuria Industrial REIT are due to report earnings on Wednesday morning.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will also release quarterly and monthly consumer price index figures at 11:30am AEST.
Elsewhere, Nasdaq giants Microsoft and chipmaker AMD will report earnings overnight, while the Bank of Japan will wrap-up a two-day policy meeting with an interest rate decision at 2:00pm AEST.
