Closing Bell: ASX 200 drowns in a sea of red as bears savage tech sector
The market was an absolute wash today, with 11 sectors down and just 19 of 200 stocks on the index managing to make any gains. Pic: Getty Images.
- ASX falls to 5-month low, down 167 points or 1.94pc
- Info tech bleeds 5.99pc, materials down 3pc
- 11 of 11 sectors lower
ASX goes under in tech tidal wave
The ASX 200 dropped below its 200-day moving average again, but there was no last-minute rally today.
The market bled 1.94% or 167.3 points with all 11 sectors lower.
Just 19 of the 200 stocks on the index managed to make any headway. The All Ords wasn’t much better – just 41 companies rose among the top 500 listed.
Check out our ASX Leaders below for the latest on who’s managing to strong stand against that undertow.
Tech was dragged under in the riptide, down an eye-watering 5.99%.
Xero (ASX:XRO) slid 3.28%, Technology One (ASX:TNE) plummeted 16.1% and Life360 (ASX:360) lost 4.45%.
Banks floundered.
Commonwealth (ASX:CBA) fell 1.78%, National Australia (ASX:NAB) 2.07%, Macquarie (ASX:MQG) 1.9% and ANZ (ASX:ANZ) 1.09%.
The finance sector has been underwater all week, down 7.46%.
Resources didn’t put up much of a fight. BHP (ASX:BHP) fell 3.65%, Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) 2.76% and Fortescue (ASX:FMG) 2.49%.
A plucky band of lithium stocks were the exception there.
Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) climbed 3.28%, Elevra Lithium (ASX:ELV) 1.51% and Liontown (ASX:LTR) 2.06%.
James Hardie (ASX:JHX) also managed to pop its head above water, despite falling 44.44% over the YTD.
JHX closed out trade with a healthy 9.4% bump after promising up to $1.25 billion in EBITDA for FY26, beating estimates by 11% and consensus by 4.7%.
All in all, a particularly brutal day of trading on the ASX today.
Analysts are describing the Aussie bourse as “oversold” at this point, but don’t hold your breath for a bounce just yet.
Nvidia will release its earnings report overnight on Thursday Australian time, after the markets close on Wall Street.
If the chip maker doesn’t manage to dazzle the market, we may find out whether the ‘AI bubble’ is ready to burst, and take the rest of Wall Street with it.
ASX Leaders
Today’s best performing stocks (including small caps):
| Code | Name | Last | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CT1 | Constellation Tech | 0.002 | 100% | 226151 | $1,474,734 |
| BUY | Bounty Oil & Gas NL | 0.003 | 50% | 2117509 | $3,122,944 |
| MTL | Mantle Minerals Ltd | 0.0015 | 50% | 100000 | $7,233,115 |
| MML | Mclaren Minerals | 0.031 | 41% | 39972372 | $4,372,165 |
| AUK | Aumake Limited | 0.004 | 33% | 827372 | $9,070,076 |
| RLG | Roolife Group Ltd | 0.004 | 33% | 1998008 | $5,635,487 |
| SRN | Surefire Rescs NL | 0.002 | 33% | 2026423 | $6,038,414 |
| ECL | Excelsior Capital | 4.25 | 29% | 751115 | $95,681,748 |
| SRJ | SRJ Technologies | 0.015 | 25% | 14540581 | $16,549,741 |
| MOM | Moab Minerals Ltd | 0.0025 | 25% | 3139507 | $4,015,034 |
| A11 | Atlantic Lithium | 0.22 | 22% | 1079954 | $129,439,463 |
| C7A | Clara Resources | 0.003 | 20% | 8843349 | $2,425,344 |
| ERA | Energy Resources | 0.003 | 20% | 1733076 | $1,013,490,602 |
| PL9 | Prairie Lithium Ltd | 0.0095 | 19% | 52941062 | $43,042,516 |
| MNC | Merino and Co | 0.14 | 17% | 25 | $6,369,188 |
| ALM | Alma Metals Ltd | 0.007 | 17% | 7957984 | $11,143,423 |
| PRM | Prominence Energy | 0.0035 | 17% | 254778 | $2,667,529 |
| BUS | Bubalusresources | 0.145 | 16% | 741300 | $7,173,501 |
| DKM | Duketon Mining | 0.19 | 15% | 226730 | $20,222,389 |
| TEE | Topendenergylimited | 0.0395 | 13% | 797232 | $9,774,844 |
| G88 | Golden Mile Res Ltd | 0.009 | 13% | 75074 | $5,007,080 |
| ZLD | Zelira Therapeutics | 0.38 | 12% | 4330 | $4,045,033 |
| IRX | Inhalerx Limited | 0.029 | 12% | 43829 | $5,666,652 |
| BPM | BPM Minerals | 0.15 | 11% | 535197 | $11,785,544 |
| AIV | Activex Limited | 0.02 | 11% | 78500 | $4,779,046 |
In the news…
McLaren Minerals (ASX:MML) has delivered an 85% increase in tonnage in a resource upgrade for its McLaren project in WA, dialling it in at 529 million tonnes at 4.5% heavy minerals.
MML also grew the indicated category of the JORC resource, raising it from 79Mt to 249Mt. Management says the resource can now comfortably support plans for a 10-million-tonne per year mining operation.
Asset integrity company SRJ Technologies (ASX:SRJ) has inked a multi-year asset integrity joint venture with CAPSA Engineering & Contracting to provide services to a national oil company (NOC) registered entity in the United Arab Emirates.
SRJ says the contract is worth about US$23.8 million over four years, with an option to extend for a further two. The deal will cover electrical integrity services for the NOC’s gas operation and maintenance sites, released via Call-Off orders.
Merino & Co. (ASX:MNC) has locked in a new distribution agreement worth $1.5 million with a Shanghai-based omni-channel partner.
The full suite of Merino & Co products will be sold under MNC’s brand across Chinese markets, opening a pathway to the US$14.89 billion Chinese luxury fashion market alongside the company’s existing agreement with Jiangsu BINJORA Era Garment & Apparel Co.
Bubalus Resources (ASX:BUS) has wrapped up drilling programs across its Victorian gold projects, submitting 144 samples from Crosbie North and 47 more from Crosbie South with results expected in December.
BUS is also planning another program at the Avon Plains gold project to begin in early December.
More regionally, Bubalus will make a further $150,000 payment to Syndicate Minerals under an option agreement. BUS plans to begin exploration activities at the Wilson’s Hill tenement in early 2026 to follow up on a historical result of 8m at 23.83g/t gold.
ASX Laggards
Today’s worst performing stocks (including small caps):
| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEL | Metgasco Ltd | 0.001 | -50% | 16281162 | $3,674,173 |
| BLU | Blue Energy Limited | 0.004 | -33% | 9895388 | $18,071,842 |
| HLX | Helix Resources | 0.001 | -33% | 2.12E+08 | $8,019,436 |
| SFG | Seafarms Group Ltd | 0.002 | -33% | 1009282 | $14,509,798 |
| BIT | Biotron Limited | 0.003 | -25% | 38960609 | $6,105,330 |
| MEM | Memphasys Ltd | 0.003 | -25% | 50000 | $9,819,569 |
| USL | Unico Silver Limited | 0.51 | -24% | 9309061 | $347,195,365 |
| ENT | Enterprise Metals | 0.004 | -20% | 67506 | $7,470,753 |
| OSX | Osteopore Limited | 0.009 | -18% | 8870381 | $2,609,860 |
| ALY | Alchemy Resource Ltd | 0.007 | -18% | 6165139 | $10,098,648 |
| NOR | Norwood Systems Ltd. | 0.014 | -18% | 1263624 | $8,770,770 |
| TNE | Technology One | 29.37 | -17% | 3405405 | $11,569,204,239 |
| FTI | Fortifai Ltd | 0.2 | -17% | 142802 | $35,521,887 |
| AKN | Auking Mining Ltd | 0.005 | -17% | 336671 | $4,920,185 |
| BLZ | Blaze Minerals Ltd | 0.0025 | -17% | 2200739 | $8,625,000 |
| M4M | Macro Metals Limited | 0.005 | -17% | 1377716 | $25,922,053 |
| VAR | Variscan Mines Ltd | 0.005 | -17% | 328808 | $7,482,954 |
| CPN | Caspin Resources | 0.135 | -16% | 1452891 | $34,144,257 |
| MTB | Mount Burgess Mining | 0.011 | -15% | 4142392 | $11,225,460 |
| HMI | Hiremii | 0.034 | -15% | 157652 | $6,590,516 |
| ZAG | Zuleika Gold Ltd | 0.04 | -15% | 8373068 | $35,103,357 |
| CXL | Calix Limited | 0.575 | -15% | 2607452 | $145,165,735 |
| BUR | Burleyminerals | 0.035 | -15% | 226067 | $7,550,860 |
| ZNO | Zoono Group Ltd | 0.07 | -15% | 2377463 | $33,309,365 |
| CAT | Catapult Sports Ltd | 4.675 | -14% | 8560451 | $1,666,545,868 |
In Case You Missed It
Drilling continues to deliver impressive results at TG Metals’ (ASX:TG6) Van Uden project in WA, with shallow RC holes revealing multiple gold zones in the central and southern parts of the deposit.
Magmatic Resources (ASX:MAG) is preparing to put the drill bit to ground at the Myall JV project with Fortescue (ASX:FMG) in NSW, chasing Northparkes-style mineralisation.
Green Technology Metals (ASX:GT1) has resumed the DFS for its Seymour project and aims to have the Canadian project up and running as the forecast lithium rebound takes place.
AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer have presented new evaluation performance data highlighting their successful use of Clever Culture Systems’ (ASX:CC5) APAS Independence platform.
Ballard Mining (ASX:BM1) is well on its way to defining an initial ore reserve for Baldock deposit in WA with infill drilling returning high-grade gold.
Bubalus Resources (ASX:BUS) is set to kick off its latest drilling at the historical gold reef at the Avon Plains project in Victoria.
Tryptamine Therapeutics (ASX:TYP) has enrolled a second patient into its world-first psilocin trial for binge eating disorder, with the Butterfly Foundation supporting recruitment.
Trading halts
Emyria Limited (ASX:EMD) – cap raise
Cazaly Resources Limited (ASX:CAZ) – cap raise
ReNerve Limited (ASX:RNV) – cap raise
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
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