The Australian sharemarket slipped on Tuesday, reversing early gains as Commonwealth Bank’s sharp decline weighed on sentiment, even as gold and lithium miners surged on stronger commodity prices.
The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 17.10 points, or 0.19%, to 8,818.8, with losses in Financials offsetting strength across eight of the eleven sectors.
Commonwealth Bank plunged 6.6% after posting a $2.6 billion cash profit for the September quarter.
While operating income rose 3%, expenses climbed 4% on higher wages and IT costs. The lender said its net interest margin had been pressured by growth in lower-yielding liquid assets and transactions in its institutional banking unit, but did not quantify the contraction.
Among its peers, National Australia Bank slipped 1.3%, while ANZ gained 0.5% and Westpac advanced 1.3%.
Investor sentiment followed an initial boost from Wall Street, where U.S. stocks rallied after the Senate approved a bipartisan agreement to end the country’s record-long government shutdown.
Gold and lithium producers were the session’s standout performers. The materials sector led the gains after gold jumped 2.9% overnight.
Northern Star Resources, Evolution Mining, and Newmont advanced 3.2%, 1.7%, and 4.3%, respectively.
Lithium producers also rallied as the spodumene price reached its highest level since June 2024.
Pilbara Minerals added 7.5% and Mineral Resources climbed 6%.
Technology shares underperformed, with WiseTech Global down 0.3% and Xero slipping 0.2%, while Life360 dropped 5.2% after announcing a US$120 million acquisition of advertising technology firm Nativo.
Elsewhere, Endeavour Group gained 1.7% after announcing a leadership overhaul, including the appointment of Supercheap Auto’s managing director as the new head of Dan Murphy’s.
Bendigo Bank tumbled 8.5% after reporting unaudited September-quarter cash earnings of A$120.7 million, down 3.2% from the previous quarter but flat year-on-year.
Scentre Group edged 0.7% higher, citing strong trading across its Westfield portfolio, with customer visits reaching 453 million in the 45 weeks to November 9—up 3.1% from the prior year.
On the bond markets, yields rose, with the 10-year up 0.3% to 4.396% and the 2-year up 0.6% to 3.647%.
