ASX lowers as big banks drop
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The news: The Australian sharemarket ended lower after a mixed day as bank stocks reversed gains from Thursday.
The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.2% to end at 8,310.4 despite eight out of 11 sectors finishing in green.
Biggest movers:
- Financial sector (-0.99%) — ANZ (-1.77%) NAB (-1.74%), Westpac (-1.53%) and CBA (-1.19%) all fell, paring strong gains from Thursday. Citi analysts noted that Westpac and CBA were their preferred picks for big banking stocks as they believe retail banks will be better placed than business banking in 2025.
- Megaport (10.1%) — Morgans analysts said they rated management and the outlook of the company highly.
- Iron ore miners — BHP (0.18%), Fortescue (1.75%) and Champion Iron (2.2%), along with BlueScope Steel (2.11%), rose sharply after China released a slew of economic data. The country’s economy grew 5.4% during the fourth quarter, beating estimates.
Deals:
- Rio Tinto (-0.73%) — Reportedly held early stage merger talks with commodities major Glencore.
- Insignia Financial (6.49%) — Received an improved takeover bid from CC Capital, topping Bain Capital’s offer.
Other news:
- Lynas Rare Earths (-0.85%) — Reported improved revenue in the December quarter despite facing technical issues at its newly-opened processing facility at Kalgoorlie.
- PolyNovo (2.32%) — Posted a bump in revenue and sales for the first half of FY25.
- Telix Pharmaceuticals (3.06%) — Received approval to begin selling its prostate cancer diagnostic agent Illuccix in Europe.
- Aussie Broadband (5.5%) — Has promoted its chief executive Brian Maher to group CEO to replace retiring co-founder Phillip Britt.
Analyst rating changes:
- CSL (-0.2%), ResMed (2.16%) — Goldman Sachs initiated coverage on both companies with a ‘buy’ rating.
- Genesis Minerals (1.75%) — UBS downgraded its rating on the company to ‘neutral’ after a jump in its share price.
- Lovisa (7.73%) — Morgan Stanley upgraded the jewellery retailer to ‘overweight’ and added the stock to its 'key ideas' list.
The Australian dollar is buying 62.03 US cents.
What’s ahead: All eyes will be on the US next week when Donald Trump will be inaugurated as its next president.
