ASX retreats after early rally as coal miners decline, gold stocks jump
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The news: The ASX reversed early gains to end lower, as a selloff in coal stocks helped drag the market to its third straight loss.
Elsewhere, Nine Entertainment confirmed interim boss Matthew Stanton as its permanent CEO, while the competition watchdog cast doubt over DP World's $175 million buyout of haulage business Silk Logistics.
The ASX 200 fell 0.48% to close at 7,749.1, with 10 out of 11 sectors finishing in red.
ASX 200 declines:
- Coal miners — The market's largest coal producer, Yancoal, dropped 12.6% as it traded ex-dividend. Rivals New Hope (-8.6%), Whitehaven (-5.8%) and Coronado Global Resources (-5.5%) also saw some of the steepest falls after new data showed that Asia's coking coal imports lowered in February and Macquarie cut its price forecasts for the commodity.
ASX 200 gains:
- Gold producers — Made up 8 of the top 10 performing stocks. Westgold Resources (8.2%) and Bellevue Gold (5.8%) led the rally, with tariff uncertainty and cooler inflation data in the US driving up spot gold prices. Capricorn Metals (5.4%) also announced the acquisition of the Kings Find project tenement, expanding its Mount Gibson gold project in Western Australia.
Analyst rating changes:
- HMC Capital (-1.4%) — Jarden upgraded its rating on the investment manager to 'overweight', calling its share price declines over the last three months "overdone".
- Audinate (-4.7%) — Macquarie downgraded the audiovisual tech group to 'underperform', finding "no evidence for optimism" for the second half of the year.
Other news:
- Nine Entertainment (-1.5%) — Announced that interim chief executive Matthew Stanton has been appointed permanent CEO and managing director, effective immediately.
- Silk Logistics (-22.2%) — Its proposed $175 million buyout by ports operator DP World is in doubt, after the competition regulator outlined concerns in its preliminary assessment of the deal.
- Boss Energy (1.8%) — Will pay $15.5 million to double its stake to 18.4% in dual-listed uranium developer Laramide Resources (14.8%).
- Rio Tinto (-1.1%) — JPMorgan Chase bought up a 5.36% stake in the miner, becoming its second largest shareholder behind Vanguard Group. JPMorgan also increased its holding in PolyNovo (0.4%).
The Australian dollar is buying 63.03 US cents.
