Miners offset CSL slide

The Australian sharemarket closed in the green on Wednesday as gains among the miners were balanced by a slide for healthcare – and index – heavyweight CSL, after its profit guidance for financial-year 2024 disappointed the market.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index finished the day up 22.8 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 7161.7 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 25.1 points, also 0.3 per cent, to 7,354.

Shares in CSL slid $21.27, or 6.9 per cent to $287.25, as the market was disappointed by its FY 2024 guidance, which warned of lower-than-expected earnings and worse foreign exchange headwinds than analysts had predicted.

Elsewhere, the best-performing sharemarket sector was materials, which added 2.5 per cent on a lift in commodity prices after the People’s Bank of China’s surprise rate cut on Tuesday, which flowed into improved iron ore prices. BHP moved $1.61, or 3.6 per cent, higher to $45.81; Rio Tinto gained $3.27, or 2.9 per cent, to $116.15; and Fortescue Metals surged 90 cents, or 4.3 per cent, to $21.70.

Gold stocks were among the day’s laggards, with Capricorn Metals weakening 27 cents, or 6 per cent, to $4.21; Bellevue Gold slipping 6.5 cents, or 5.2 per cent, to $1.19; Gold Road Resources retreating 4.5 cents, or 2.5 per cent, to $1.745; and Northern Star easing 12 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $13.04.

Lithium adds to resources strength

In lithium, producer Allkem spiked 71 cents, or 4.6 per cent, higher to $16.06, and fellow producer Pilbara Minerals advanced 14 cents, or 3 per cent, to $4.88. IGO, which mines nickel and lithium, gained 44 cents, also 3 per cent, to $15.14, and Mineral Resources, which produces iron ore as well as lithium, jumped $3.40, or 5 per cent, to $71.32.

Among the lithium project developers, Liontown Resources added 6 cents, or 2.1 per cent, to $2.86; US-based Piedmont Lithium surged 3.5 cents, or 3.9 per cent, to 92.5 cents; and Patriot Battery Metals put on 9.5 cents, or 5.3 per cent, to $1.90.

In coal, Stanmore Resources sank 14 cents, or 5.3 per cent, to $2.49; heavyweight Whitehaven Coal gave up 2 cents, to $6.26; and New Hope slipped 1 cent, to $5.31; but Yancoal Australia defied the trend, appreciating by 4 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $4.52.

Among the banks, Westpac rose 26 cents, or 1.3 per cent, to $20.56; National Australia Bank was up 29 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to $25.51; Commonwealth Bank gained 85 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $97.37; and ANZ softened 1 cent, to $22.92, while the so-called “fifth major,” Macquarie Group, lifted $2.39, or 1.4 per cent, to $178.05, and Bendigo Bank gained 5 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $8.42.

Fed pauses, but only for now

In the US, the market seemed confused at the signalling coming out of the Federal Reserve, which paused its rate-hiking campaign and indicated it was making progress on fighting inflation – but the central bank kept its options open by forecasting two more rate rises later this year.

The broad S&P 500 index eked out a gain of 3.58 points to 4,372.59, while the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 232.79 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 33,979.33, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index lifted 53.16 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 13,626.48. During the day, both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq touched their highest levels since April 2022.

In the bond market, the US 10-year bond yield eased 3.6 basis points, to 3.792 per cent, while the 2-year yield closed unchanged at 4.684 per cent.

Gold rose 26 cents to US$1,944.13 an ounce, while the global benchmark Brent crude oil grade gave up US$1.09, or 1.5 per cent, to US$73.20 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 39 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to US$68.66 a barrel.

The Australian dollar is buying 67.98 US cents this morning, up from 67.84 cents at the local ASX close on Wednesday.  

James Dunn

James is an experienced senior journalist and host of The Inside Network's industry events.