Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights
So much for a small rise on the market today. Instead, the ASX200 closed down about three quarters (.76) per cent.
Real estate stocks proved the biggest drag, down just over one and a quarter of a per cent, while IT was the only sector to climb today, with stocks gaining nearly half a per cent.
In the green
Adore Beauty (ASX:ABY) spiked close to 20 per cent after its board rejected a takeover bid from UK ecommerce retailer, THG – a company listed on the London Stock Exchange. The offer valued shares at between $1.25 and $1.30.Adore’s board announced the conditional proposal undervalued the company and was not in shareholders’ best interests. Adore closed at $1.11.
Australian wood fibre exporter Midway (ASX:MWY) gained more than seven per cent on news it’s selling part of its North Shore site in Geelong in Victoria to grain storage and freight provider CHS Broadbent for $15.5 million.
Under an MOU, CHS Broadbent will lease and then acquire the 5ha of land, where it plans to construct and manage an 80,000 metric tonne grain storage and 1.5 million tonne export terminal.
The plan is for CHS Broadbent’s grain to contribute to Midway’s port volumes. Midway will contribute about $4.5 million to the site alterations.
MWY closed trade at 80 cents.
And pharmacies software provider MedAdvisor (ASX:MDR) is up nearly 10 per cent on its latest guidance for H1 FY24 in which the company expects its revenue could be up as much as 15 per cent on the comparative period to between A$70.5-$73.5 million.
Its cash position on the last day of the calendar year is projected to be around $20 million, that’s double what was forecast last month. The company has cited growth in the US and Australia and New Zealand as driving its success.
MDR closed trade at 22.5 cents.
In the red
Lithium miner Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) shed 2.5 per cent after completing its Share Purchase Plan to raise $13.8 million.
This added to the $365 million already raised through an Institutional Placement to fund development at its Kathleen Valley project in WA.
Liontown shareholders have lost more than half the value of their stock in the company since Albemarle withdrew its $6.6 billion takeover bid as Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting built up its holding to a strategic 19.99 per cent.
Liontown closed well below the raise price of $1.47, at $1.36 this afternoon.
Healthcare company EMvision (ASX:EMV) lost 2.5 per cent – despite unveiling the name of its inaugural point-of-care brain scanner device, ’emu’.
The name was revealed at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) 2023 conference.
The company also announced it had recruited 150 patients suspected as having suffered a stroke. These patients will be in stage two of its multi-site clinical trial, with results expected early next year.
EMvision closed trade at $1.52.
And mineral explorer OreCorp (ASX:ORR) took a dive on news Perseus Mining (ASX:PRU) had acquired a 19.9 per cent interest in OreCorp which is the target of a takeover scheme by North American listed company, Silvercorp.
OreCorp – which holds the multi-million-ounce Nyanzaga gold project in Tanzania -lost 10 per cent today, while Perseus went up – gaining about one and three quarter per cent (1.73 per cent).
Perseus claimed it would vote against the Silvercorp scheme – which values OreCorp shares at 54 cents.
ORR closed at 47.5 cents.
Before we go – RBA Governor Michele Bullock has welcomed the central bank’s new Deputy Governor, Andrew Hauser. Hauser comes from the Bank of England where he was Executive Director for Markets.
This comes ahead of the next interest rate decision on the 5th of December, and as Canberra introduced RBA reform legislation into Parliament today.
