ASX ends lower as miners weigh; Northern Star sheds 19% after slashing guidance

The news: The Australian sharemarket ended marginally lower after the mining sector slumped more than 2%, with financials (+1%) and technology (+0.8%) leading sectoral gains.

The benchmark ASX 200 index closed 0.14% lower at 8,617.1, with five of the 11 sectoral indices in the red.

Biggest movers:

• Northern Star (-18.8%) — Cut its FY26 production guidance for the second time following weaker-than-expected operational performance over the last two months.
• Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure (+6%) — Priced an inaugural $350 million, 5-year bond issuance in the Australian medium-term note market.

Other news:

• Qantas (-0.7%) — Agreed to pay $105 million to settle a class action over its issuing of travel credits for cancelled flights during Covid, that was brought against the airline in August 2023.
• Electro Optic Systems (+18.4%) — Secured $64 million in new orders for counter-drone systems for unnamed defence customers in the US and Middle East.
• Ampol (+1.9%) and Viva Energy (+3.4%) — Among the petrol companies being summoned to a meeting with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to discuss price increases. The full list also includes 7-Eleven, BP, Chevron, United Petroleum and EG Australia.