ASX falls; gold stocks plummet amid Gaza peace plan
The Australian sharemarket has dipped on Friday as a risk-off sentiment triggered by the Gaza peace plan sent oil and gold stocks down, while the big iron ore miners also fell amid reports of further price disputes between BHP and China.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 11.1 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 8958.7 as of 2.07pm AEDT, despite eight out of the 11 sectors being in the green.
Oil and gold both edged lower as traders focused on cooling tensions in the Middle East and broader markets struck a more cautious tone. West Texas Intermediate fell 1.7 per cent to settle below $US62 a barrel while Brent closed near $US65.
Risk-off sentiment took hold as Israel implemented a ceasefire deal in Gaza after it reached an agreement with Hamas for the release of all the hostages it holds – a major step toward ending a two-year war which has loomed over oil flows from the Middle East, the source of a third of the world’s crude.
“Geopolitical developments shook up the markets overnight, with the breakthrough between Israel and Hamas – that could see a sustained ceasefire and the return of hostages and progress made to a bigger peace deal – hitting crude and gold,” said Capital.com market analyst Kyle Rodda. “Gold prices were so primed for a pullback, with the hype in the market louder than any time in recent memory.”
On the ASX, oil and gas giant Woodside fell 1.4 per cent. Beach Energy fell 2.2 per cent, while Santos edged down 0.6 per cent.
Index heavyweight BHP fell 2 per cent after Bloomberg reported that the price dispute between the Australian mining giant and China’s state-run iron ore buyer risked rolling on until early next year, as both sides remain locked in stalemate. Rio Tinto fell 2.1 per cent, while Fortescue came off 1.3 per cent.
Gold stocks also weighed on the local bourse after the price of bullion fell 1.6 per cent to $US3976.65 as of 4.32pm in New York (7.32am AEDT).
Regis, Ramelius and Genesis all sank 4.6 per cent, while Newmont and Northern Star both dropped 2.3 per cent. Alkane plummeted 7.3 per cent, with Vault down 4.9 per cent, Westgold 2.9 per cent, Perseus 4.3 per cent, and Greatland 1.2 per cent.
Tech stocks rallied after chipmaker Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, gained 1.8 per cent in New York overnight, with Life360 up 2.7 per cent, NextDC 1.4 per cent, TechnologyOne 1.5 per cent, and Codan 2.1 per cent.
Stocks on the move
L1 Group rocketed 11.7 per cent after Bell Potter increased its share price target by 30 per cent a day after stockbroker Angus Aitken described the asset manager in an email as a “free cash machine” and said its share price could hit $2.
Guzman y Gomez fell 1.6 per cent. Morningstar described its plan to return up to $100 million to shareholders through an on-market buyback as “perplexing” given it was “selling low and buying high”. The research house also warned that the market might be “too optimistic” about Guzman’s global rollout, particularly in the US.
Mineral Resources traded flat after news that founder Chris Ellison had lost one of his key boardroom backers after Zimi Meka became the sixth director in as many months to exit. The company has appointed Susan Ferrier and Colin Moorehead as independent non-executive directors to fill the boardroom holes.
Other lithium miners were mixed, with PLS also easing 0.6 per cent, while IGO dropped 1.9 per cent, and Liontown sank 3.2 per cent.
DigiCo gained 1.3 per cent after it announced chief executive Chris Maher had stepped down from its board and would be replaced by newly recruited former AirTrunk deputy chief executive Michael Juniper.
Qantas rallied 1.7 per cent despite being one of 39 companies that may be unable to stop the data of millions of customers from being leaked to the dark web, after cloud-based software company Salesforce ruled out negotiating with a notorious hacking group which set a Friday deadline for negotiations.
Perenti eased 0.4 per cent after it announced chief executive Mark Norwell would step down next year, with a search for his replacement underway.
