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ASX in third straight fall, as CBA and Rio Tinto slide

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The news: The Australian sharemarket recorded its third consecutive day of decline as energy stocks once again weighed heavily.

Market bellwethers Commonwealth Bank and Rio Tinto both fell as the big four lender sold its remaining interest in Vietnamese bank VIB and Rio finalised its acquisition of Arcadium Lithium, which stopped trading on the ASX today.

The ASX 200 fell 0.57% to end at 8,094.7, with 7 out of 11 sectors finishing in red.

ASX 200 declines:

  • Energy (-2.9%) — Ended as the worst performing sector, dragged down by its largest stock Woodside Energy (-4.9%), which traded ex-dividend. Fellow oil companies Beach Energy (-2.2%), Santos (-2.1%) and Ampol (-1.4%) all lowered even as benchmark oil prices lifted.

ASX 200 gains:

Executive moves:

  • Air New Zealand (-1.8%) — Announced its CEO Greg Foran will step down in October this year. The dual-listed airline will start a global search for his replacement immediately.
  • Inghams (1.2%) — Named Matthew Easton as the new head of its New Zealand business, replacing Edward Alexander.
  • Michael Hill (-4.3%) — Appointed finance chief Andrew Lowe as its interim chief executive following the sudden death of Daniel Bracken last week.

Ratings changes:

  • ResMed (-3.4%), Cochlear (4.6%), Integral Diagnostics (4.7%) — Citi upgraded the healthcare trio from 'neutral' to 'buy', largely on valuation grounds, with Cochlear and Integral Diagnostics seeing their share prices tumble since reporting their half-year results.
  • Boss Energy (1.3%), Paladin Energy (1.1%) — E&P Capital initiated coverage on the two uranium producers. It gave Boss a 'positive' rating and Paladin a 'negative' rating, but both stocks climbed as E&P outlined the sector's "more attractive" mid-term outlook.
  • ARB Corporation (-2.6%) — Citi downgraded ARB from 'buy' to 'neutral' and cut its target price by 23%. Analysts said they are "incrementally more cautious" on the company's near-term outlook.

Other news:

  • Rio Tinto (-2.2%) — The miner's new acquisition Arcadium Lithium stopped trading on the ASX after the lithium chemicals producer's buyout was approved by the Royal Court of Jersey. Rio Tinto also announced a $2.8 billion investment to develop its Brockman iron ore mine in Western Australia.
  • Commonwealth Bank (-1.8%) — Completed the sale of its remaining 4.4% shareholding in Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank for approximately $170 million.
  • Mesoblast (-8.3%) — Fell on its first day trading as an ASX 200 company.
  • Capricorn Metals (2.4%) — Reported a 20% decline in first-half profit as gold production at its Karlawinda mine fell and costs climbed.
  • Magellan Financial Group (0.9%) — Saw a 1.3% drop in funds under management in February, as net outflows reached $500 million.

The Australian dollar is buying 63.39 US cents.

By Hugo Mathers