The sharemarket closed lower in a volatile session as an ongoing sell-off in Australian banks and disappointing trading updates from Sigma Healthcare and WiseTech outweighed wider gains.

The S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.1 per cent, or by 6.4 points to 8151.4 points at the close, after edging higher earlier in the session as investors weighed a flurry of market updates that coincided with the 2025 Macquarie Australia Conference held in Sydney. The All Ordinaries edged down 0.1 per cent. Four of 11 sectors finished in the red, led by healthcare.

Banks were hit by further selling as analysts from Citi to JPMorgan downgraded their earnings outlook for Westpac, spurring negative sentiment towards Australian banks ahead of earnings reports from ANZ and National Australia Bank later this week.

Westpac shed 2 per cent on Tuesday, closing at $31.81 and extending Monday’s fall after its net interest margin and profit disappointed investors. NAB lost 1.5 per cent at $35.30, while Commonwealth Bank dipped 0.1 per cent to $166.74.

Citi analyst Thomas Strong forecast a dour outlook for Westpac on Tuesday. “While it is difficult to be equivocal as to how the economy will evolve over the next six months, what we can see is a difficult funding environment, moderating growth, cost pressures and stable to slightly higher credit risk,” he said.

A sell-off in index heavyweights WiseTech and Sigma Healthcare also heaped pressure on the bourse after both updated investors at the Macquarie conference.

WiseTech fell 2.2 per cent to $92.09 after warning investors that macroeconomic conditions and demand risk from trade tariffs “may be” a headwind this year. Sigma Healthcare fell 6.7 per cent to $2.94 amid some profit-taking after the pharmaceutical giant said earnings rose 36 per cent in the nine months to March.

A surge in NextDC shares helped temper losses. The stock rallied 8.3 per cent to $13.71 after reporting its pro forma forward order book had more than doubled thanks to several significant contract wins.

Gold stocks were back among the best-performing stocks on the bourse, buoyed by a sustained rebound in gold prices to nearly $US3400 an ounce. Ramelius Resources jumped 7.3 per cent to $2.81. And energy stocks rallied as Brent oil rebounded from a steep sell-off.

Stocks in focus

In other corporate news, David Di Pilla’s HMC Capital dropped 5.8 per cent to $4.87 after telling investors it was in advanced talks with hospital operators to take control of the 11 Healthscope hospitals it owns.

Tabcorp posted the biggest gain on the ASX 200, rising 9.7 per cent to 62.5¢ after reporting no “discernible change” in consumer demand despite a difficult macroeconomic environment.

Platinum Asset Management retreated 6.7 per cent to 62.5¢ after an institutional investor pulled a $958 million mandate.

And Viva Energy rose 2.6 per cent to $1.79 after its first-quarter trading performance fell in line with guidance, supported by improved retail fuel margins.

SiteMinder edged down 1.3 per cent to $3.78 despite expecting annual recurring revenue to grow at a faster pace in the second half of the financial year, up from the 22 per cent growth it reported in the first half.