The ASX Today: Coles court loss, tech sell-off drags market lower again

Hello and welcome to HotCopper’s The ASX Today, I’m Seja Al Zaidi. It’s Thursday of Week 20, and the Aussie market is drifting lower again, marking a fifth straight session of losses.

Hear from all the ASX-listed companies that were at the RIU Resources Round-Up in Sydney, right here on HotCopper.com. Over a dozen interviews.

The ASX is down only slightly this afternoon, off by about 0.1%, as investors try to stabilise after yesterday’s huge CBA sell-off. Interestingly, the banks are actually making a bit of a comeback today.

CBA has edged back into the green after suffering its biggest one-day fall on record yesterday, while ANZ is also slightly higher. That rebound is helping steady sentiment somewhat, although the broader market still feels cautious.

A lot of attention today is also on global affairs. Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are meeting in Beijing, with markets watching closely for any signal around possible trade tensions.

At the same time, Wall Street and Asian markets continue riding this enormous AI-driven rally, but locally, software stocks are struggling to keep up. Xero has plunged more than 7 per cent after higher research and development costs hit profits, while WiseTech Global sinks by 3.2 as investors continue rotating out of expensive tech names here at home.

One company absolutely bucking the trend though is Megaport. The stock is exploding higher, up more than 35 per cent, after landing huge long-term contracts with US customers in a massive vote of confidence for its network infrastructure business.

Consumer staples are another weak point today after a major legal blow for Coles. The supermarket giant has dropped almost 3 per cent after the Federal Court ruled it misled customers through its discount pricing promotions. Woolworths is also lower in sympathy.

In company news, GrainCorp has slumped more than 13 per cent after profits almost halved amid weak grain pricing and oversupply pressures globally.

Bapcor is also under heavy pressure, down nearly 20 per cent, after downgrading earnings guidance and blaming worsening trading conditions tied to the Middle East conflict.

Meanwhile, ASX Limited is higher after appointing a new chief executive, and engineering giant Worley is also up after announcing another major share buyback.

That’s The ASX Today for Thursday 14 May.

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