ASX closed up 2 points or 0.02% on Friday. 7 of 11 sectors higher. Materials sank 3.85% as gold, copper, silver and lithium prices fell after the overnight Wall Street tech sell-off. BHP closed down 3.6%, FMG down 2.1%, PLS down 8.1%. Discretionary and financials performed best, up 2.57% and 2.21%, as investors found defensive ground and retail bargains. The Big Four closed up between 0.9% and 4.3%, with CBA best. WES up 3.8%, NCK bounced 5.2% after falling 15.3% yesterday.
Gold miners struggled as the bullion fell. EVN down 4.5%, NST down 2.5%, GMD down 7.8%. MIN fell 4.3% despite strong lithium sales. Tech fell 0.92% as Meta’s $US825bn capex plan reignited doubts over AI capex spending, with NXT down 3.0% [?], 11.5% for the week. Healthcare held up, RMD up 3.2%, COH up 4.4%. Energy trod water, down 0.40%, even as oil rose overnight on Houthi drone strikes on Saudi energy infrastructure.
ZIP sank 29.5% after US fraudsters targeted the buy now, pay later lender, which raised questions over its risk controls. TPW flew 33.4%. NEM fell 4.9% despite reporting a 35% rise in quarterly profit on the high gold prices and a copper recovery at Cadia. RIO fell 2.7% after committing $1.9bn to its Kangwinan bauxite project in Queensland, which adds 20m tonnes of yearly capacity to its Weipa operations.
Kospi down 0.73%, Hang Seng up 0.72%, TOPIX down 1.31%, SSE down 1.86%, Taiex flat. US futures: Dow down 0.29%, S&P 500 down 0.14%, Nasdaq flat. AUD 70.10c. AU 2-year yield down 6.0bp to 4.89%, 10-year down 8.7bp to 5.16%. Money markets priced a two in three chance of an RBA hike on Cup Day.
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