ASX falls 3.8pc for week; Magellan soars, BHP dives

The Australian sharemarket suffered its biggest weekly fall in a year as the war in the Middle East roiled global energy markets and heightened inflation risks.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 3.8 per cent for the week – its biggest decline since April, when the Trump administration doled out wide-reaching tariffs. The benchmark dropped 89.30 points, or 1 per cent, to 8851, wiping out February’s 3.7 per cent gain.

Capital.com analyst Kyle Rodda said markets have started to price in a degree of price shock from oil, which has diminished hopes for further US rate cuts and flipped the swaps curve in the eurozone. Bond markets also moved to price in more than two Reserve Bank of Australia rate rises this year after a jump in yields.

“The risk of an ongoing and intensifying supply shock that heavily disrupts energy markets and leads to higher inflation and weaker economic growth has risen,” Rodda said.

Oil fell 1.1 per cent in Asian trade to $US84.49 a barrel as the Trump administration weighed options to address the spike in oil and petrol prices amid the US war with Iran. On the ASX, Woodside Energy rose 1 per cent to $30.75 and Santos gained 1.9 per cent to $7.46, even as chief executive Kevin Gallagher sold down $5.6 million worth of shares. Viva Energy rose 1.5 per cent to $2.10 after UBS reiterated its buy rating.

Gold miners were dumped as the precious metal suffered its first weekly drop in more than a month as investors rotated into the US dollar. Catalyst Metals fell 11.3 per cent to $7.04, was down Westgold Resources 8.2 per cent to $6.63 and Newmont dropped 2.7 per cent to $165.14.

Iron ore miners were dumped despite iron ore rising above $US101 per tonne as China’s state-backed buyer urged traders to stop purchasing new BHP cargoes after finding they had breached existing purchase restrictions. BHP dropped 4.2 per cent to $52.81, Rio Tinto 3.6 per cent to $158.67 and Fortescue 0.7 per cent to $19.25.

Tech jumped 4.6 per cent – the best performing sector – as WiseTech Global soared 10.8 per cent to $52.72 and Xero by 4.5 per cent to $87.63.

Stocks in focus

In corporate news, Magellan Financial soared 9.3 per cent to $11.55 as the Rich Lister Lowy family took a 5.1 per cent stake in the group. It comes after Magellan announced a merger with Barrenjoey.

SkyCity Entertainment fell 4.2 per cent to 69¢ as it faced potential class action proceedings over its online casino operations in New Zealand. SkyCity said it denies any liability and will defend the proceedings.

Uranium miner Deep Yellow dropped 11.8 per cent to $2.17 after it reported a half-year loss of $7.78 million, widening from a $2.47 million drop a year ago.

That’s a wrap on today’s news. Join us again soon for more live markets news.