ASX falls as materials drag
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The news: The Australian sharemarket had its worst day since mid-June, tracking sharp falls on Wall Street.
The numbers: The ASX 200 fell 0.81% to end at 7,971.6 with 10 out of 11 sectors finishing in red.
The worst performing sector was materials, down 1.71%, followed by AREITs (-0.98%). Gold stocks were some of the worst performers following a spot gold price fall. West African Resources (-3.69%), Ramelius Resources (-3.25%), Evolution Mining (-2.69%), and Newmont Corporation (-2.67%) all fell.
Lifestyle Communities was the worst performer across the ASX 200, down 13.39%, after the property developer flagged lower profit and withdrew guidance following media reports of unethical behaviour.
Yancoal fell 3.58% despite reporting a strong June quarter due to higher metallurgical coal prices, while Whitehaven slipped 1.54% despite reporting higher production during the quarter.
Neuren Pharmaceuticals dropped 0.53% after it received a designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that could allow it to speed up the development of its Phelan-McDermid syndrome treatment.
Westpac fell 0.84% despites the prudential regulator announcing it would halve the $1 billion additional capital holdings imposed on the bank due to improvement in its risk profile, risk management, and bank culture.
Beach Energy ended flat after reporting a fall in quarterly production and sales compared to a year earlier.
The best performing sector was telecommunication services, up 0.04%, followed by consumer discretionary (-0.06%).
Pacific Current shares rose 2.67% after announcing it would sell its entire stake in Carlisle Management as part of the latter’s takeover by Nasdaq listed Abacus Life.
Meridian Energy gained 1.32% after announcing that its Harapaki wind farm was now fully operational, within a month of the original completion date and coming in under the $448 million budget.
Elsewhere, Ventia ended 1.46% higher after securing a six-year $564 million firefighting services deal with Defence.
The Australian dollar is lower buying 67.03 US cents.
The context: Next week will see the latest ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence figures.
Offshore, the latest US GDP figures will be released while Tesla and Alphabet will report earnings.
