End of Day Report – Wednesday 19 June: Big bank basket down 0.5% to $219.36.

The Australian market has finished the day down 8 points (-0.11%) to 7770. Energy was the standout performer on the back of another strong gain in the oil price (WTI was up 1.7% overnight). WDS and STO up 1.3% and 1.1%. BPT in contrast was hit hard, down 4.3% on multiple broker downgrades after the company announced low er production and higher CAPEX yesterday. Staples continued their strong run, up in every session this week. WOW and COL up 0.1% and 0.7%. TWE up 2.7%, positive China-Australia sentiment giving the stock a boost. Tech mirrored the NASDAQ, closing near flat. WTC’s short-term selling took a break, up 0.1% while XRO gained 0.8%. REITs and Healthcare closed near flat. The big banks closed down between 0.4% and 0.8% with NAB the exception. Up 0.5%. In commodities, the iron ore giants finished flat. FMG lost a 2.5% morning gain. Citi downgraded its 2025 iron ore price forecasts while lifting those for copper and aluminium. SFR finished down 1.7%, AWC down 0.6%. Uranium stocks were in the green after the Coalition announced plans to build seven nuclear reactors by 2050 if elected next year. PDN, BOE and DYL up 1.1%, 2.2% and 4.2%. Gold stocks responded well to the overnight commodity price rise and bond yield drop. Lithium down again.

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