ASX falls, tracking US declines; Bitcoin hits record high
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The news: The Australian sharemarket closed lower, tracking losses on Wall Street after a proposed tax-cut and spending bill stoked concerns the US deficit will balloon by trillions.
The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.45% to 8,348.7, with 10 of the 11 sectors finishing in the red, coming off Wednesday’s three-month high.
Concerns about the US deficit and the weakening US dollar also helped Bitcoin hit a new record high. The cryptocurrency soared past $111,000 for the first time and was priced at USD110,741.90 at 4:39pm AEST.
Biggest movers:
- Tech sector (-1.67%) — Was the worst performing sector as Australia’s five biggest tech companies all dropped, with NEXTDC (-2.48%) suffering the biggest fall, followed by TechnologyOne (-2.41%), Wisetech Global (-2.33%), Life360 (-1.05%) and Xero (-1%).
- Energy sector (-1.34%) — Oil and gas heavyweights Woodside (-1.33%), Santos (-0.93%), Ampol (-3.37%), and Viva Energy (-2.58%) all declined. However, large coal companies Yancoal (+0.98%) and Whitehaven (+0.19%) made it into the green.
- Materials (+0.65) – The only sector that finished in the green, even as iron ore majors BHP (-0.052%), Rio Tinto (-0.57%), and Fortescue (-1.49%) took hits.
- Gold miners — Demand for the safe-haven metal rose in light of US deficit fears, lifting the shares of ASX-listed gold miners, which made up eight of the top 10 performers. They were led by Genesis Minerals (+5.78%), Northern Star Resources (+5.36%), and Spartan Resources (+5.29%).
- Lynas Rare Earths (+6.97%) — The rare earths producer was the biggest gainer on the ASX 200 today.
- Nufarm (-6.41%) — Shares in the agricultural chemicals supplier continued to slide after reporting a 39.5% fall in statutory profit over the six months to 31 March on Wednesday.
Other news:
- SKS Technologies (+21.24%) — Landed a $100 million contract to work on a data centre project for construction firm Erilyan Group.
- IAG (+2.7%) — The insurer's proposed acquisition of Royal Automobile Club of Queensland Insurance (RACQI) will not be opposed by the ACCC.
- Perenti (+0.34%) — Subsidiary African Underground Mining Services has secured a $1 billion contract to deliver mining services at the Obuasi Gold mine in Ghana through a local joint venture.
- Fortescue (-1.49%) — The iron ore exporter said its troubled Iron Bridge magnetite mine in Western Australia is expected to hit nameplate capacity only in FY28.
- MA Financial (-2.21%) — The asset manager announced a $90.4 million takeover of real estate investment management firm IP Generation.
- Dexus (-3.05%) — Dexus shares fell after the commercial property giant obtained a NSW Supreme Court injunction against Australia Pacific Airports Corporation to restore Dexus bloc shareholder governance, voting, and information rights.
- Mayne Pharma (-4.4%) — The drug company reiterated that a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) letter was not materially significant in response to an ASX query that flagged a potential breach of continuous disclosure rules.
What's ahead:
- Overnight, S&P Global will release monthly ‘flash’ figures for the US manufacturing and services purchasing managers’ indexes.
- The US Department of Labor will also release data on unemployment claims overnight.
- The UK Office of National Statistics will release monthly retail sales figures tomorrow afternoon.
- The three-day G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ meeting will wrap up tomorrow morning.
