Closing Bell: ASX hit by hawkish RBA, but resources stocks shine on

• ASX closes 0.16% lower with nine of the 11 sectors in the red; materials led gainers; energy was leader of the laggards
• RBA keeps rates on hold at 3.6%, citing concerns inflation in the September quarter may be higher than expected
• Embedded finance firm Stakk jumps 82% after signing a three-year agreement with T-Mobile USA, following a similar deal with Robinhood

The ASX 200 fell decisively lower in afternoon trade to close down 0.16% to 8848.80 points after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept the cash rate on hold at 3.6%, following a choppy morning that saw the index rise and fall before settling flat by lunchtime.

The RBA’s decision saw the Aussie dollar rise ~0.4% to US66.01 cents, peaking at 66.08 US cents, while government bond yields also climbed higher.

In its announcement today the RBA cited concerns that “inflation in the September quarter may be higher than expected” at the time of its August meeting, where it lowered the cash rate by 25bps.

The central bank has lowered interest rates three times in 2025, from a peak of 4.35 per cent prior to February’s board meeting

State Street Markets head of APAC macro strategy Dwyfor Evans said the RBA’s decision to leave rates unchanged was widely expected.

“Two comments of note in the statement, namely that the growth in unit labour costs remains high – which alludes to a continued strong labour market – and that Q3 inflation may be higher, which conforms to the still strong prices signals from the State Street PriceStats series on Australia,” Evans said.

“Caution on rates will persist with a broader view on RBA forecasts for growth and inflation released at the early-November decision.”

Materials lead gainers as nine of 11 sectors fall

Nine of the 11 sectors were in the red at close with materials leading today’s gainers, supported by a 2.6% rise in copper futures to US$10,414/t overnight and ongoing strength in gold, which hit a record US$3,850/oz.

Energy stocks led the laggards today, down 1.69% following weaker oil prices.  Brent crude and WTI have both dropped ~3% after OPEC+ signalled plans to boost production in November.

Woodside Energy Group (ASX:WDS) closed 1.67% lower and Santos (ASX:STO) fell 2.46%.

Wall Street up as US government shutdown looms

While Australian markets reacted to the RBA’s hawkish hold, Wall Street overnight posted modest gains. The Nasdaq led gains with a 0.5% rise, while the S&P 500 added 0.3% and the Dow Jones edged up 0.1%, despite fears of a US government shutdown.

The US government faces a shutdown at 12:01 am on Wednesday Washington time (2:01pm AEST) unless the Senate approves a House measure extending federal funding for seven weeks while annual spending bills are finalised.

Bitcoin is hovering near US$114,100, tracking mixed signals from global markets.

ASX Leaders

Today’s best performing stocks (including small caps):

Embedded finance company Stakk (ASX:SKK)  has closed 82% higher after scoring a major contract, signing a three-year deal with T-Mobile USA. Under the agreement, SKK’s image capture, authentication, OCR, and document/data orchestration technologies will be integrated into T-Mobile’s new app.

The contract follows a similar arrangement with US trading platform Robinhood with both deals set to generate revenue through a combination of monthly platform fees and usage-based transaction charges.

Restaurant Brands New Zealand (ASX:RBD) closed 59% higher after receiving a takeover notice from Finaccess Restauración, S.L. of the company’s intention to acquire all ordinary shares in RBD.

Finaccess said its final offer is NZ$5.05 per share, payable in cash. RBD management plans to issue a company statement within 10 days should Finaccess make a formal offer.

AustChina Holdings (ASX:AUH) is up 50% after starting first-phase fieldwork at its Coupon gold and Rinadeena antimony prospects in north-west Tasmania.

Reconnaissance mapping revealed a >0.5 km alteration corridor around the Coupon prospect, a previously unrecorded adit, and multiple outcrops, pointing to a new mineralisation model. Next steps include channel sampling and adit mapping to guide future exploration.

ASX Laggards

Today’s worst performing stocks (including small caps):

In Case You Missed It

Legacy Minerals Holdings (ASX:LGM) is preparing for a large scale gold, copper and silver diamond drill campaign at its Mt Carrington project in NSW.

Altech Chemicals (ASX:ATC) has teamed up with a major Chinese battery producer AMPower to co-develop battery products.

Riversgold (ASX:RGL) has signed a right to mine deal with MEGA Resources for its Northern Zone gold project in WA, with mining set to begin in early 2026.

Challenger Gold (ASX:CEL) is fully permitted to start toll milling at its Hualilan project in Argentina after gaining approval for an Environmental Impact Assessment amendment.

Hillgrove Resources (ASX:HGO) has raised $28 million in a placement to scale up copper production at Kanmantoo in South Australia.

Dimerix (ASX:DXB) secures orphan drug designation in Japan for its lead asset DMX-200 in Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis, a rare kidney disease with limited treatment options.

Antipa Minerals (ASX:AZY) drilling at Minyari has reaffirmed its Paterson credentials, highlighted by a bonanza 1m interval of 176.5g/t gold.

Power Minerals (ASX:PNN) has confirmed a high-grade carbonatite hard rock intrusion at its Santa Anna rare earths project in Brazil.

OzAurum Resources (ASX:OZM) has started drilling at Mulgabbie North gold project in WA’s Eastern Goldfields in a bid to expand high-grade zones at the Cross Fault discovery.

Alterity Therapeutics (ASX:ATH) has unveiled a new market assessment and corporate presentation highlighting the multi-billion potential of ATH 434, its lead candidate for Multiple System Atrophy.

Trading Halts

Australian Pacific Coal (ASX:AQC) – pending full year accounts
Axel REE (ASX:AXL) – pending mineral resource estimate
James Bay Minerals (ASX:JBY) – material acquisition and cap raise
Alchemy Resources (ASX:ALY) – pending assay results
Victory Metals (ASX:VTM) – pending letter of intent for offtake arrangements
Saturn Metals (ASX:STN) – cap raise
Flagship Minerals (ASX:FLG) – pending strategic placement
European Lithium (ASX:EUR) – pending subsidiary acquisition
Renegade Exploration (ASX:RNX) – clarifying status of mining claims
Emu (ASX:EMU) – insufficient directors under Listing Rule 17.3
Star Entertainment Group (ASX:SGR) – pending further announcement

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.