Heavy selling in gold miners dragged the Australian sharemarket into the red, even as Megaport rocketed higher on a major equity raising. The benchmark ASX index slipped 0.70% to finish at 8,625.1, with mining, energy and financial stocks all under pressure.
Losses in miners were steepest at 2.3%, outpacing declines of 1.1% in energy and 0.9% in financials. Other sectors mostly held up but not enough to offset the slump in resources.
Across the individual names, Megaport stood out with an 11.3% jump after completing the institutional leg of its $827 million entitlement offer, raising $518 million. Pantoro Gold fell 5.7% and headed a broad sell-off in gold producers, which accounted for seven of the 10 worst performers on the ASX 200.
Index moves reflected that concentration, as investors rotated away from precious metals exposure despite support elsewhere in the market.
Corporate news also drove sharp stock-specific moves. Resolute Mining slid 5.0% after warning of lower output from its Syma gold operation in Mali because security issues in the region have disrupted supply chains and logistics over the past month.
Perpetual gained 1.4% on its agreement to purchase a 70% stake in Interfi Systems, a loan servicing technology provider that it plans to use to scale its corporate trust business and deepen digital capability.
Nib added 2.5% after striking a deal with Allianz Partners to divest a substantial portion of its Australian and New Zealand travel insurance portfolio for up to $50 million.
Deal flow extended into infrastructure and energy-adjacent names. Atlas Arteria finished flat but said that bidder IFM Investors received only limited acceptances for its $7 billion takeover proposal, and the toll-road operator again recommended shareholders reject the approach.
Engineering group Monadelphous edged 0.6% lower even after announcing a $380 million contract with CS Energy for work tied to the Brigalow Peaking Power Plant project in Queensland.
