Banks pushed the Australian sharemarket lower on Monday, after a disappointing set of results from Bendigo Bank and Westpac bruised sentiment towards the sector.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.2 per cent or 18.7 points to 8537.10, slipping back from a record high of 8555.8 hit on Friday. The Australian dollar notched a two-month high of US63.72c in afternoon trading as the US dollar remains under pressure.

Four of the 11 sectors were flashing red, with financial stocks leading losses. Bendigo and Adelaide Bank was the hardest hit on the ASX 200, tumbling 15.3 per cent to a one-year low of $11.37, after half-year profit fell to $265.2 million. That was down around 10 per cent on the previous half. Meanwhile, Westpac fell 4.1 per cent to $33.30 after it reported a 9 per cent drop in net profit, attributed to hedge accounting.

It was Bendigo’s result in particular that bruised sentiment, according to TMS Wealth portfolio manager Ben Clark.

“You don’t normally see ASX 200 companies do that – it’s normally the guidance which creates the share price volatility, it’s not necessarily about the [earnings] result. The market normally knows where the numbers are going to land,” he said.

The other major banks were dragged lower, with National Australia Bank off 1.2 per cent to $40.52 and ANZ down 0.4 per cent to $31.16. Commonwealth Bank moderated earlier losses, slipping 0.2 per cent to $164.97.

Insurers also took a beating, after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton threatened to break up the biggest firms and accused them of “ripping off” consumers. IAG shaved off 2.8 per cent to $7.59.

Consumer staples was the best-performing sector, up more than 1 per cent thanks to better-than-expected earnings from The a2 Milk Company. A2 powered up 19.7 per cent to $7.12 after upgrading full-year revenue guidance and announcing its first dividend.

In commodities, gold miners sold off heavily after the precious metal slumped more than 1.5 per cent on Friday to $US2882.53, fuelled by concerns it had been overbought. Northern Star Resources fell 3.5 per cent to $17.91 and Genesis Minerals 3.3 per cent to $3.19.

Stocks in focus

In other corporate news, Australia’s biggest steelmaker, BlueScope, jumped 13 per cent to $25.25 after lifting its interim dividend to 30¢ and after chief executive Mark Vassella said steel prices in the US, where the company generates about 45 per cent of its earnings, had jumped 20 per cent.

Rail haulage group Aurizon moderated earlier losses, closing 0.6 per cent lower to $3.17, after the company warned its full-year profit would be at the lower end of expectations. Net profit slipped 2 per cent to $233 million due to declining earnings in bulk and coal.

Woodside Energy shares slipped 2.9 per cent to $23.84 after the oil and gas producer issued guidance for costs and tax expenses for the 2024 year that implies the final dividend could fall shy of expectations by as much as 20 per cent.

Cash-strapped casino operator Star Entertainment jumped 12.5 per cent to $13.5c, after Oaktree offered to refinance $650 million of its debt. The company’s former chief casino officer has also agreed to pay $180,000 to settle a case over misconduct in dealing with a large Macau junket operator that had criminal ties.

Payment provider Findi soared 10.8 per cent to $5.05 as it narrowed its earnings before tax guidance to a range of $30 million to $32 million in fiscal 2025.

GPT advanced 4.5 per cent to $4.86 after the property fund manager’s guidance came at the top end of consensus.

And finally fund manager Perpetual rose 1.8 per cent to $23.74 after confirming it had received a takeover proposal from KKR.