Australian share market sinks as miners, energy stocks fall

The ASX benchmark sank on Monday as falls in key commodity prices pushed major energy and mining companies lower.

The Australian share market lost ground on Monday with the benchmark weighed down by miners and energy stocks.

The S&P/ASX200 sank 0.76 per cent, or 53.2 points, to fall below the 7000 threshold to 6,987.6. The All Ordinaries fared slightly better, losing 0.7 per cent to 7,192.8.

The Australian dollar is buying US66c.

Across the benchmark, 10 of 11 industry sectors finished in the red, with real estate and discretionary stocks the worst performers, losing 1.35 per cent and 1.26 per cent respectively.

Tech stocks were the sole the best performers, adding 0.45 per cent.

Monday’s session follows mixed results on Wall Street on Friday. With trading shortened due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the Dow Jones index rose 117.1 points, or 0.3 per cent, and the S&P 500 index added just 2.7 points. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq sank 0.1 per cent, or 15 points.

Iron ore miners fell after prices for the commodity sank on the Singapore exchange. Picture: Supplied.

Iron ore miners sank after futures traded lower on the Singapore exchange, falling 1.3 per cent to $US132.1 a tonne on the December contract amid signals from Beijing of intervention to cool prices.

BHP dropped 1.5 per cent to $46.52, Rio Tinto lost 1.3 per cent to $125.19 and Fortescue plunged 2.1 per cent to $24.51.

Energy stocks also sank ahead of the next OPEC+ meeting scheduled for Thursday. Brent Crude is currently trading just above $US80 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate is nearing $US75 a barrel.

Sector heavyweight Woodside fell 0.7 per cent to $31.71 while Santos dropped 0.6 per cent to $7.03.

Ahead of the OPEC+ meeting, Eightcap’s Zoran Kresovic said the market was attempting to “reposition itself”.

Markets are awaiting an OPEC+ meeting scheduled for Tuesday as the oil cartel mulls deeper production cuits. Picture: Joe Klamar / AFP

“Given the escalation of global geopolitical tensions and forecasted slower global economic growth predictions for 2024, we anticipate further output cuts going into the new year adding potential stability in the price,” Mr Kresovic said.

In company news, Liontown Resources announced the completion of its share purchase plan, which commenced on October 19. The lithium miner’s subscriptions from eligible shareholders totalled $13.8m. Shares sank 2.5 per cent to $1.37.

Struggling pathology provider Healius added 2.3 per cent to $1.33 after it announced its chair Jenny McDonald will step down after failing to receive enough proxy votes to secure re-election at the firm’s annual general meeting scheduled for Tuesday. The board has appointed Kate McKenzie as chair in the interim.

Former Rio Tinto executive will keep his job at IGO following a company probe into his sacking. Picture: Supplied.

QBE Insurance climbed 2.2 per cent to $15.64 after it announced it expected gross written premium growth of around 10 per cent for the 2023 financial year. A key driver of the increase was its group-wide renewal rate, which averaged 9.6 per cent in the September quarter.

Takeover target Origin Energy is expected to hold talks with potential buyers Brookfield and EIG in coming days. Origin’s board will seek an improved bid for the energy giant after it labelled the revised $20bn takeover offer lobbed last Wednesday as appearing “inferior”. Shares dropped 0.4 per cent to $8.53.

IGO, who has employed sacked Rio Tinto aluminium executive Ivan Vella as its new managing director and CEO, released a statement expressing its continued confidence in his “character, integrity and professionalism”. Mr Vella will commence the role at IGO with a paycheck of $1.4m a year. Shares lost 3.3 per cent to $8.45.

Cosmetics retailer Adore Beauty vaulted 19.3 per cent to $1.12 after it rejected a cash offer from British retailer THG of $1.25 to $1.30 per share.

Originally published as Australian share market sinks as miners, energy stocks fall