ASX slides amid broad sell off; Iluka tumbles 10pc

The Australian sharemarket dropped on Friday in a broad sell-off as investors turned cautious ahead of a key job report in the US that may shed light on whether the Federal Reserve will continue easing interest rates this month.

The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.6 per cent, or 54 points to 8420.9 at the closing bell, with 10 out of the 11 sectors in red. The index lost 0.2 per cent on a weekly basis. It scaled a fresh all-time high of 8514.5 on Tuesday.

The fall came ahead of employment data in the US, expected late on Friday (AEST), which will shed light on the state of the US economy ahead of the Fed’s next meeting on December 18.

Energy came under pressure, tracking oil prices lower after the group of major oil producers delayed its planned output increase by three months until April. Woodside shaved off almost 2.2 per cent to $24.06 and Santos retreated 1.2 per cent to $6.59.

The big banks had a weak session with Westpac down 1.4 per cent to $32.76, while Commonwealth Bank fell 0.6 per cent to $157.06. That’s despite traders ramping up bets of an earlier rate cut by the Reserve Bank. Money markets imply an around 50-50 chance of an easing in February 2025, up from 25 per cent on Tuesday. The central bank is widely expected to keep the cash rate at 4.35 per cent when it meets next week.

Stocks on the move

Mining company Iluka Resources was the biggest laggard, down 10 per cent to $4.93 after it announced an extra $214 million cash contribution to cover the cost blowout of its domestic rare earths refinery.

The country’s biggest transmitter of natural gas, APA Group, jumped 1.4 per cent to $7.27. It was among the top gainers after the energy regulator confirmed it would not subject the company’s South West Queensland Gas Pipeline to full price regulation.

Domino’s Pizza slumped 2.3 per cent to $32.48 after Macquarie downgraded the stock to underperform from neutral, saying that a decline in franchisee profitability was jeopardising the chain’s new store opening.

Shares in copper miner 29Metals fell 2 per cent to 25¢ after Citi cut its rating to sell, from neutral, flagging potential funding issues.

Shares in gambling company Aristocrat fell 3 per cent to $67.68 following the resignation of chief executive Hector Fernandez late on Thursday.