Evening Wrap: ASX 200 touch lower as gold shines, energy slumps again

The S&P/ASX 200 closed 9 points lower, down -0.13%.

Steady as she goes. It was a quiet end to a constructive week for Aussie shares. Gold miners, and mining shares more generally, led the way, while a forlorn energy sector again had the dubious honour of being named "Biggest Loser".

Let's dive in.

Markets

ASX 200 Session Chart

ASX 200 closed smack-bang in the middle of its tiny trading range (Source: Market Index)

The S&P/ASX200 (XJO) finished 9 points lower at 7049.4, exactly 0.18% from its high and from its low. This is kind of the epitome of a "quiet day".

Which is fine, because we closed a tidy 1.0% higher for the week - and I think we're all happy to take that given how hairy things were getting as early as the start of this month.

In the broader S&P/ASX 300 index advancers lagged decliners roughly 111 to 152. Not a ringing endorsement, but again, when you consider the weekly data, this was more like 190 to 96. I'd suggest that is convincing.

The S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold sub-index (XGD) (+2.6%) was the best performer today, likely in response to a firmer gold price overnight, but also to a modest decline in the Australian Dollar.

It was pretty marginal from there as the next best sector, the S&P/ASX 200 Materials (XMJ) sector only managed a 0.4% gain for the session, still, there were some notable moves in this sector.

Companies in the S&P/ASX 200 Energy sector (XEJ) (-1.6%) companies again dominated the losers' column, capping a terrible week. From Tuesday to Thursday, the crude oil price tumbled

Economy

There weren't any major data releases today.

What to watch out for...

It must be a Friday thing, because there isn't a great deal on the agenda for this evening, either. You may wish to look out for US Building Permits and Housing Starts. The US housing market is a major employer, as well as a major contributor to US GDP.

Latest news

Interesting news and movers

Trading higher

• +11.1% Starpharma Holdings (SPL) - AGM trading update (15 Nov) and Bell Potter Conference presentation (14 Nov)

• +7.0% Bannerman Resources (BMN) - Part of broader uranium stocks rebound

• +6.4% Deep Yellow (DYL) - Part of broader uranium stocks rebound

• +5.0% a2 Milk Co. (A2M) - Forsyth Barr and Goldman Sachs upgrade

• +4.8% NexGen Energy (NXG) - Terra Capital's Bond stock pick at Sohn conference

• +4.4% Australian Agricultural Co (AAC) - H1 FY24 results presentation (16 Nov)

• +4.2% GrainCorp (GNC) - Jefferies upgrade

• +3.6% Pacific Smiles Group (PSQ) - Payroll tax reassessment letter in ACT for A$884K

Trading lower

• -8.3% Accent Group (AX1) - YTD trading update

• -3.7% Karoon Energy (KAR) - Completes A$384M entitlement offer and placement at A$2.05

• -3.3% Steadfast Group (SDF) - Completes 54.5M-share placement at $5.14

• -2.9% Charter Hall Group (CHC) - Reaffirms guidance (16 Nov)

• -1.2% Serko (SKO) - UBS downgrade

Broker notes

• a2 Milk Co. (A2M)

  • Upgraded to buy from neutral at Citi; Price Target: $4.81 from $4.74

  • Upgraded from to neutral from sell at Goldman Sachs; Price Target: $3.95 from $4.20

• Aust. Agricultural Co (AAC) retained at buy at Bell Potter; Price Target: $1.90 from $1.85

• Altium (ALU) downgraded to hold from buy at Jefferies; Price Target: $47.08 from $44.69

• AMP (AMP)

  • Downgraded to hold from buy at Jefferies; Price Target: $0.97 from $1.28

  • Retained at sell at UBS; Price Target: $0.82 from $1.00

  • Retained at neutral at Citi; Price Target: $0.90 from $1.15

• Bendigo & Adelaide Bank (BEN) downgraded to underperform from outperform at CLSA; Price Target: $8.70 from $9.50

• Corporate Travel Management (CTD) retained at buy at Bell Potter; Price Target: $21.00 from $24.00

• Data#3 (DTL) retained overweight at Morgan Stanley; Price Target: $8.20 from $7.10

• Duratec (DUR) initiated buy at Moelis Australia; Price Target: $1.50

• Graincorp (GNC)

  • Retained at buy at Bell Potter; Price Target: $9.55 from $9.45

  • Upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies; Price Target: $9.25 from $9.15

  • Retained at buy at UBS; Price Target: $9.00 from $9.50

• Karoon Energy (KAR) upgraded to overweight from neutral at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $2.53 from $2.55

• Mineral Resources (MIN) retained at buy at Citi; Price Target: $78.00 from $77.00

• Sonic Healthcare (SHL) retained at overweight at Morgan Stanley; Price Target: $35.55 from $36.60

• Serko (SKO) upgraded to buy from buy / high risk at Citi; Price Target: $4.90 from $4.75

• Seven Group Holdings (SVW) retained at buy at UBS; Price Target: $34.50 from $31.50

• Woodside Energy (WDS) downgraded to sell from neutral at Citi; Price Target: $26.50 from $31.50

Scans