The Australian sharemarket concluded Tuesday’s session nearly unchanged, with a late downturn in CSL contributing to the market’s flat performance. The S&P/ASX 200 Index ended down 2.7 points, or less than 0.1 per cent, at 8867.4, influenced by declines in CSL and the financial sector. Of the eleven sectors, three ended the day in negative territory.
A sudden announcement just before market close revealed that CSL’s chief executive, Paul McKenzie, will retire after seven years. CSL is a global biotechnology leader that researches, develops, manufactures, and markets a range of plasma therapies, recombinant protein therapies, and influenza vaccines. This news prompted a 5 per cent drop in CSL’s shares to a one-month low of $171.39. Gordon Naylor, a former senior CSL executive, will step in as interim boss as of February 11.
Banking and insurance stocks also faced headwinds. ANZ decreased by over 2 per cent to $36.71, while Westpac declined by 1.8 per cent to $39.28. Commonwealth Bank experienced a modest decrease ahead of its earnings release on Wednesday. Insurance companies followed a sell-off in US insurance brokers after Insurify’s launch of an AI tool sparked concerns about industry disruption. Steadfast plummeted 9.5 per cent to $4.50, Insurance Australia Group fell 6.2 per cent to $7.28, and QBE dropped 3.4 per cent to $19.69.
Technology stocks partially offset these losses, with data centre operator NextDC rising 3.4 per cent to $13.78. Megaport gained 2.6 per cent to $11.12, and Xero increased 2.2 per cent to $84.76. Uranium miners continued their rebound, easing concerns that AI demand would trigger a nuclear power boom. Paladin rose 5.5 per cent to $12.13, and Deep Yellow increased 7.2 per cent to $2.55. Elsewhere, Treasury Wine Estates, which is a global wine company with a portfolio of brands spanning multiple countries, jumped 3.5 per cent to $5.35 after upgrading first-half earnings guidance to $236 million.
