Banks, health stocks sink ASX 200
The ASX 200 closed marginally lower during Tuesday’s trading as the major banks and healthcare drag the market down.
Australia’s sharemarket closed marginally lower on sea-sawing Tuesday as health care and banking stocks offset broader market gains.
The benchmark ASX 200 index closed slightly lower down 6.40 points or 0.08 per cent to close at 8,151.40.
The broader All Ordinaries also slipped, down 4.70 points or 0.06 per cent to 8,369.30.
The Australian dollar slid 0.03 per cent to 64.58 US cents.
While the market overall fell, seven of the 11 sectors finished in the green, although index heavyweights the banks and healthcare dragged the ASX down.
A bright stock was energy shares which bounced following a sell-off on Monday after OPEC+ announced it was ramping up supply in June, which saw the price of Brent Crude Oil traded briefly below $US60 a barrel.
Santos shares were up 0.68 per cent to $5.88, Woodside Energy traded marginally higher up 0.35 per cent to $19.94 while Ampol jumped 3.48 per cent to $24.95.
All four big banks closed lower, with the financials index down 0.42 per cent at market close.
Australia’s largest bank CBA slipped 0.1 per cent to $166.74, NAB dropped 1.5 per cent to $35.30, ANZ was 0.73 per cent lower to $29.84 and Westpac lost a further 1.97 per cent to $31.81 after Monday’s disappointing results.
IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said Westpac’s half yearly continued to hamper the financial sector.
“Following Westpac’s underwhelming first-half 2025 earnings report, which has sparked renewed debate on valuations, and ahead of NAB’s update tomorrow, major banks have extended their decline,” Mr Sycamore said.
Westpac on Monday announced the bank’s core interest margin, a key metric of profitability, fell by 3 basis points on the back of tighter loan spreads, on the back of competition in lending.
Healthcare also finished in the red, down 1.86 per cent on the back of US President Donald Trump signing an executive order to incentivise prescription drug manufacturing in the United States.
The order comes ahead of Mr Trump’s plans to place a tariff on pharmaceutical goods going into America.
Biotech giant CSL saw its share price fall by 2.47 per cent to $250.47, Telix Pharmaceuticals lost 3.84 per cent to $28.04, and Ramsay Health Care declined by 2.38 per cent to $34.10.
Despite the sell off in healthcare stocks, Mr Sycamore said the overall ASX moved within the smallest trading range in eight weeks.
“The quiet session follows a subdued and low-volume day on Wall Street, where the market’s winning streak ended as ongoing trade tensions overshadowed strong economic data ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate meeting on Thursday morning,” he says.
In company news TAB was one of the strongest performing shares on the market soaring 9.65 per cent to $0.62 after telling investors “tab is getting fitter” having increased its wagering and media capabilities.
Poultry supplier Inghams shares jumped 1.72 per cent to $3.55 despite the company reaffirmed its FY 25 guidance of volume growth between negative 1 and 3 per cent.
Freight rail transport company Aurizon announced cost cutting measures, including approximately 200 full time equivalent roles being reduced, subject to a consultation currently in-progress. Shares fell 3.23 per cent to $3 during Tuesday’s session.
Originally published as Banks, health stocks sink ASX 200
Why fuel price crash won’t make flying cheaper
US President Donald Trump’s tariffs have helped cause chaos on the oil markets, but Aussie travellers are unlikely to score a bargain on their next flight.
Simple trick saving Aussies $5.3bn
Australian grocery shoppers are using a simple trick to save on their grocery bills, and it is also helping in another way.