ASX falls; Webjet Group, Maas Group rally

The news: The ASX 200 closed 0.1% lower at 8,436.2 after paring sharper losses earlier in the day.

Biggest movers:

• Webjet Group (8.97%), Web Travel (4.89%) — Shaw and Partners raised its price target on Web Travel while Webjet Group clawed back losses after a sell off on Thursday.
• Maas Group (7.61%) — Emerged from its trading halt and received a price target upgrade from Wilsons Advisory on its triple acquisition announcement.

Other news:

• Ampol (-1.52%) — Completed maintenance at its Lytton refinery in November but has deferred another stop scheduled in 2025, while refining margins were up in October.
• Nine Entertainment (-0.4%) — Announced its leadership team will undergo a leadership development program as part of its response to findings of its workplace culture.
• Star Entertainment (ended flat) — Macquarie analysts downgraded the stock to ‘underperform’ after the embattled casino operator reiterated a challenging liquidity position.
• Resolute Mining (4.82%) — Confirmed it had made a second payment of $77 million to the Mali government as part of an agreement over the release of its detained executives earlier this month.

Earnings:

• Centuria Capital Group (-0.77%) — Reaffirmed its full-year guidance and anticipates "more favourable market conditions" into the next financial year.
• Macquarie Tech (0.63%) — Flagged that it expects to see earnings growth in FY25 but warned of ongoing cost increases at its US businesses.
• Lendlease (0.99%) — Reaffirmed its full-year earnings guidance, with a number of transactions targeted for completion, but flagged its debt gearing will remain high through the first half of the fiscal year.