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The ASX finished slightly lower today snapping a four-day winning streak as the market struggled to follow another record session on Wall Street. A majority six of 11 sectors finished higher, though the heavyweight sectors weighed on the bourse overall. Healthcare and Real Estate led the market, while Financials and Materials were the biggest drags.
- ASX 200: -7.98pts / -0.09% to 8,727.70
- AUD/USD: 0.6970 / -0.17%
- Best sectors: Healthcare +1.09%, REITs +0.81%, Consumer Disc. +0.47%
- Worst sectors: Industrials -0.17%, Materials -0.20%, Financials -0.59%
- Uranium was the clear bright spot, following Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) signing a 20-year agreement with Constellation Energy worth US$4.3 billion to add 890 megawatts of new nuclear capacity. Paladin Energy (ASX: PDN) +2.54% to $9.30 (held in Active Growth Portfolio), Deep Yellow (ASX: DYL) +4.61% to $1.14 and NexGen Energy (ASX: NXG) +4.25% to $13.48 (held in Emerging Companies Portfolio) all advanced strongly.
- Lithium was the opposite story, with Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS) +1.84% to $3.88, Liontown Resources (ASX: LTR) -1.20% to $0.82 and Vulcan Energy Resources (ASX: VUL) -3.27% to $1.63 giving back part of the recent bounce.
- Consumer Discretionary names fared well, extending their recovery after a brutal 16% sell-off between early August and late September. Domino’s Pizza (ASX: DMP) +4.47% to $21.28, Super Retail Group (ASX: SUL) +2.07% to $13.30, Lovisa (ASX: LOV) +1.15% to $24.70 and Eagers Automotive (ASX: APE) +0.39% to $18.10. We added JB Hi-Fi (ASX: JBH) +0.10% to $70.36 to the Active Growth Portfolio today, see the alert here.
- BHP Group (ASX: BHP) -0.65% to $62.45 (held in Active Growth & Active Income Portfolios) agreed to sell its Kambalda nickel concentrator and surrounding tenements to Gold Fields. The remainder of BHP’s WA nickel operations remain suspended, with a review due by February 2027.
- Arena REIT (ASX: ARF) +12.98% to $2.35 was the standout stock after Goodstart agreed in principle to take over most of the Edge Early Learning centres leased from Arena. The proposed deal covers 20 of Arena’s 27 centres currently occupied by Edge, providing a significant improvement in the outlook following Edge’s collapse into administration.
- SKS Technologies (ASX: SKS) -12.26% to $9.80 fell after the Jinks family sold an $106m block, equivalent to 8.7% of the company, at $10.60 a share. The family retains around 20.9%.
- Regis Resources (ASX: RRL) -1.11% to $7.11 reported 83koz of Q1 gold production, broadly tracking FY27 guidance, while cash and bullion increased to $1.28bn.
- Brent crude: around US$101/bbl, / +1%.
- Gold: was down $US25 to around US$4,136/oz / -0.6%
- S&P 500 E-mini futures: +5.50pts / +0.07% | Dow E-mini futures: -33.00pts / -0.06%
