ASX falls amid broad losses, Liontown leads continued lithium ascent
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
More news: Australian shares opened lower as most sectoral indices fell. Uranium miners were among the worst performing stocks on the ASX 200 while lithium miners were among the best performing.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 8.2 points, or 0.09%, to 8,626.4 at 10:39am AEDT. Eight of the 11 sectoral indices were in the red.
HMC Capital (-3.9%) was the worst performer on the ASX 200 after it was announced on Friday evening the asset manager would be removed from the benchmark index at the quarterly rebalance on 22 December 2025.
HMC's listed data centre fund DigiCo Infrastructure REIT (-0.4%) announced that AirTrunk's former deputy chief executive Michael Juniper as its new CEO, effective immediately. His predecessor Chris Maher will transition to a newly created government relations role for HMC Capital.
Boss Energy (-3.6%) will also be removed from the ASX 200. Fellow uranium miners Paladin Energy (-2.6%) and Deep Yellow (-2.3%) also fell.
Lithium miner Liontown (+7.2%) was the best performer on the ASX 200 amid an improved outlook for lithium prices. Pilbara Minerals (+3%), Mineral Resources (+2.3%) and IGO (+2%) were also higher.
National Storage REIT (+2.6%) was higher after announcing it has entered a scheme of implementation deed with Brookfield Asset management and Singapore’s GIC for more than $4 billion.
Australian shares to open lower ahead of RBA rate decision
The news: Australian shares are set to open lower as investors brace for the Reserve Bank's next monetary policy decision on Tuesday.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEDT:
- ASX futures: down 13 points to 8,620
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.22%, S&P 500 up 0.19% and Nasdaq up 0.31%
- Europe: CAC 40 down 0.09%, DAX up 0.61% and FTSE 100 down 0.45%
- Spot gold: down 0.22% to USD4,199 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 0.77% to USD63.75/bbl and US WTI up 0.69% to USD60.08/bbl
- AUD: up 0.47% at 66.43 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 2.38% to USD91,366.
The context: The RBA is widely expected to keep rates steady this week, though economists are mixed on the direction for future decisions into 2026, with some forecasting rate cuts and others expecting rate hikes.
There's more certainty in the US, where the Federal Reserve is expected to deliver a quarter-point cut this week. Markets are pricing in an 84% chance of a cut, according to LSEG data, despite five of the Fed's 12 voting members voicing opposition or skepticism about further easing in recent weeks.
The personal consumption expenditures price index, released on Friday, widely met expectations and reinforced bets for the rate cut. Wall Street's three main indices all ended modestly higher.
The source: Reuters
