In November, Australian manufacturing activity continued to decline, with the flash composite output index dropping to 46.4, marking its lowest level in eight years, excluding pandemic lockdowns. However, experts believe that this indicates a soft landing for the economy rather than a hard one, aligning with the Reserve Bank of Australia's expectations.
At the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.62 per cent lower at 7,029.20.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 17 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 1.25 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a rise of 1 point.
The SPI futures are down 45 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector was Communication Services, up 0.2 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Materials, down 1.44 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS), closing 2.26 per cent higher at $3.62. It was followed by shares in Medibank Private (ASX:MPL) and Auckland International Airport (ASX:AIA).
The worst-performing large cap was Allkem (ASX:AKE), closing 4.28 per cent lower at $8.50. It was followed by shares in South32 (ASX:S32) and AGL Energy (ASX:AGL).
Asian markets
Japan's Nikkei has gained 0.29 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has lost -0.24 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has gained 0.11 per cent.
Company news
Chimeric Therapeutics (ASX:CHM) announced positive preclinical data for CHM 1301, the Company’s off-the-shelf cell therapy. The results show up to 300% enhanced cell killing demonstrated compared to first generation NK cells and there is evidence of expansion into two new solid tumours – pancreatic cancer and ovarian cancer. Shares closed 6.9% at 3.1 cents.
Armada (ASX:AMM) is set to acquire 14 mineral rights, divided into 4 blocks, of lithium exploration projects in Brazil. In justification for the purchase, Rick Anthon, non-Executive Chairman of Armada commented, “this area in Brazil is attracting significant exploration attention for the potential discovery of lithium-bearing pegmatites, with a number of other operators in the region and known occurrences.” Shares closed 50 per cent higher at 6 cents.
Site Group International (ASX:SIT), a leading provider of education and training services, has signed a significant mining contract with multinational gold producer OceanaGold Corporation (TSX:OGC). Site has been contracted to provide training for the recommencement of Underground Mining Training at OceanaGold’s Didipio mine at the Clark facility in the Philippines. Shares closed 20 per cent higher at 0.3 cents.
Linius Technologies (ASX:LNU) has entered the US college sports market with Whizzard deployment by the Peach Belt Conference (PBC). The PBC will deploy Linius Whizzard and Whizzard Highlights, Linius’ new automated highlights solution. PBC and its member schools will be able to curate videos and publish automated highlight reels for the upcoming men’s and women’s basketball season. Shares closed flat at 0.2 cents.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2,016.00 an ounce.
Iron ore is 1.5 per cent higher at US$136.00 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 1.8 per cent fall.
Light crude is trading $-0.81 lower at US$76.29 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 65.55 US cents.
