ASX down as Goodman slides; Pro Medicus, SG Fleet rally

Property stocks dragged the Australian sharemarket lower on Wednesday amid disappointing economic data and as sector heavyweight Goodman Group dived on a repricing of $1.9 billion block trade.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.4 per cent, or by 32.6 points to 8462.6 at the closing bell, with eight out of the 11 sectors in the red. That’s after the index rallied to a record-closing high on Tuesday and the S&P 500 notched its 55th record high this year.

The Australian dollar dropped to a four-month low after data showed that the economy expanded at an anaemic 0.3 per cent in the third quarter. That missed the market consensus of 0.4 per cent. Year-on-year, the economy expanded 0.8 per cent, compared to the 1.1 per cent forecast.

Perpetual’s head of investment strategy, Matt Sherwood, said the GDP data was “very disappointing” and that it made for a challenging backdrop for equity investors.

“The Australian sharemarket is very challenged on valuations and earnings, with today’s GDP numbers, it’s a very hard backdrop to seeing another major leg up to the market,” he said.

The worst-performing sector on the ASX was real estate, led by Goodman Group. Its shares dropped 2.9 per cent to $37.02 after investment bank Citi was forced to slash the price of a block of 59.4 million shares with fund managers baulking at its initial offer, according to The Australian Financial Review’s Street Talk column.

Elsewhere in property, GPT lost 1.5 per cent to $4.75 and Stockland declined 1 per cent to $5.23.

Stocks in focus

In other corporate news, Pro Medicus rallied 1.8 per cent to $261.24 after it said founders Dr Sam Hupert and Anthony Hall would not sell any further shares in the “foreseeable future”. About 2 million shares in the medical imaging software company were traded after the close of Tuesday’s session.

Tabcorp shares dropped 1.8 per cent to 54¢ following news the company had slashed 10 per cent of the wagering group’s workforce to cut costs and simplify the business.

SG Fleet rose 2.7 per cent to $3.42 after Pacific Equity Partners formally signed and agreed on terms to acquire the vehicle leasing company. The purchase price equates to a $1.4 billion enterprise value and marks the largest public-to-private acquisition of the year.

And Rio Tinto added 0.9 per cent to $120.08 after it signed a joint venture with Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining to develop the Winu copper-gold project in Western Australia. The latter will acquire a 30 per cent stake in Winu for $614 million.