ASX falls as property and materials drag
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: The Australian sharemarket ended lower as materials and real estate sectors dragged.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.23% to end at 7,682, despite only five out of 11 sectors finishing in red.
The worst performing sector was AREITs, down 1.89%, followed by materials (-1.82%). West African Resources, down 10.04%, was the worst performer across the ASX 200 after flagging that a new mining code in Burkina Faso threatened to cut short two of the gold explorer's mining permits.
IGO lost 3.07% after it announced that it was considering the sale of its Forrestania Nickel Operation in Western Australia.
BHP ended 2.19% lower as Bloomberg reported that it was planning to sell Brazilian copper and gold assets it acquired from the takeover of Oz Minerals.
Mirvac fell 8.53% after the property developer reported a wider full-year loss on the back of devaluations in its office portfolio.
Elsewhere, Qantas fell 2.18% after announcing that it would reduce the FY23 remuneration of its former CEO Alan Joyce by $9.26 million after a governance review.
Shares in Transurban ended 1.01% lower despite the company delivering earnings that were in line with analyst expectations.
Meanwhile, Pacific Smiles tumbled 7.18% after shareholders rejected the takeover proposal by NDC BidCo.
The best performing sector was financials, up 1.03%, followed by consumer staples (0.49%). AMP shares jumped 13.5% after it posted better-than-expected underlying profit of $118 million and outlined further divestments including its majority stake in advice licences.
Despite shedding over 35% of its share price on Tuesday, Audinate gained 6.05% after analysts weighed anticipated declines in FY25 against longer-term growth.
Light & Wonder increased 2.23% on the back of a strong June quarter result that saw its gaming revenue jump 14%.
Meanwhile, Guzman y Gomez gained 0.14% as Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of the company with an ‘overweight’ rating.
The Australian dollar is higher buying 65.52 US cents.
The context: Tonight will see the latest US unemployment claim figures published while China’s latest inflation figures will be released on Friday.
Earnings season continues on Friday with News Corp, REA Group, Nick Scali, QBE, and Life360 posting results.
