End of Day Report – Monday 11 Mar: Banks and iron ore miners in big sell-off

ASX 200 cratered 143 points to 7704 (-1.8%) as banks gave up frothy gains from Friday and iron ore weakened in Asian trade dragging down the big miners. BHP fell 2.6% with RIO off 3.6% and FMG down 3.5%. Base metal stocks also slid with MIN off 2.4% and S32 down 2.3%. Lithium stocks were mixed, LTR down 3.1% and PLS holding up as lithium firmed in Asian trade. Rare earth leader LYC dropped 3.5% with IGO in trouble too. Uranium stocks sub-optimal, PDN fell 0.4%, BOE off 2.9% and DYL returning from a capital raising off 4.7%. Gold miners also suffered despite bullion prices heading higher, NST fell 4.0%, EVN down 3.3% and GOR off 3.7%. Oil and gas stocks also smacked down, WDS down 2.6% and STO off 1.8%. Banks were a source of serious weakness. Having led the market up to records, it was all about locking in profits. CBA fell 2.7%, ANZ down 1.9% and the Big Bank Basket falling to $208.22(-2.7%). MQG dipped 0.9% and GQG fell 2.7% on rumours of the founder selling down. Insurers also slipped, IAG down 1.1% and SUN off 0.3%. REITs also falling hard, GMG down % and SGP off %. Healthcare saw losses as CSL went ex-divided and fell 1.5%, RMD off 3.7%. Industrials down across the board. Tech escaped a little down only 0.8% on the Index. WES fell 1.5% and REA, CAR and SEK all under serious pressure. In corporate news, TSK rose 90.0% on a takeover deal. REX moved 4.4% on a code share with Etihad and WOR won a Shell contract. Nothing on the economic front. Asian markets were mixed on Japanese GDP numbers, with the Nikkei dropping 2.8% and China and HK both positive.

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