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A fairly boring day on the market amidst larger negative sentiment stemming back to last week’s higher-than-expected CPI read from the ABS which has, for now, divorced Australia from Wall Street when it comes to a risk-on zeitgeist.
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The XJO was heading for its worst run in six weeks as we passed into the final hour; the ASX200 is now boasting YTD returns under +9% YoY, where only a few weeks ago we were looking at growth of +10%. Maybe not the world’s most dramatic decline, but still frustrating for those traders waiting until we get back to a point where things turn green.
That wasn’t gonna happen today. Take a look at the sector-by-sector breakdown for the local bourse as at 12.10pm AEDT – but there’s some good news. The healthcare sector is up! (Understand, reader, I am writing this as we hit 3pm – by the end of the day, that could change.)
The good news for healthcare stocks broadly is that it looks like CSL Ltd shareholders have gotten over selling the stock off; shares were up nearly +1% in the final hour on Tuesday.
Utilities tanked because Origin slumped -3.5% after Australian Energy Minister Chris Bowen laid out his plans for power companies to offer free electricity in some states, for some times of the day.
The materials slump is best explained by metals prices. Over in Singapore on the SGX, iron ore futures gave back some strength, falling down to US$103/tn. They were US$106/tn on Friday.
Further complicating matters, gold prices have dipped back below US$4,000/oz again, in part informed by a Federal Reserve that might now be looking less gung-ho on cutting rates so quickly (which implies there are still interest-linked gains to be had in other types of assets.)
Check out the gold price chart a/a 12.11pm AEDT Tuesday:
It could be a depressing November for a while yet. As I’ve been doing a lot lately, I’m wondering whether we get a Santa Rally this year. Let’s hope so, but if it some analysts are right the RBA will likely revise CPI expectations upward, that could be a threat.
So who was in the green on Tuesday?
NEXTDC climbed over +4% in the final hour based on no news but a multibillion dollar deal between Amazon and OpenAI overnight has likely revived enthusiasm for the AI-Data-Centre-Tech school of thinking.
If you wanted further evidence of that, Digico Infrastructure REIT also staged a gain out of nowhere on Tuesday, a show of revival for the AI-facing Australian stocks that have been quiet the last few months.
Finally, assay tech player Chrysos Corp jumped+8% in the final hour based on no news and no other apparent catalysts, though it’s worth considering the fact less than $3M of shares had traded hands by 3pm.
And as for the reds:
G8 Education fell on Tuesday after downgrading its FY26 guidance on lower centre attendance, choosing to measure up to August 22 when quantifying the decline – omitting the last few months where reports on the prevalence of child assaults in childcare centres has only increased.
Novonix meanwhile revealed that US automaker Stellantis won’t be taking its graphite offtake anymore, only one year after inking the deal (that only started in January.) It looks like disagreements over graphite specifications was to blame; the flake graphite market is notoriously tricky and unstandardised.
Finally, while trades were suspended so it wasn’t technically red, Alliance Aviation has warned the market there’s a guidance downgrade coming – not long after rumours of a private buyout saw the stock shoot up mid-October.
That’s Market Close for Tuesday, I’m Jon Davidson, have a great night and we’ll see you tomorrow. (Filmed Market Closes will be back soon!)
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