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ASX closes 0.82% lower to its lowest point in a year

PUBLISHED

2023-10-23

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Australian shares closed at their lowest level in a year on Monday, following a trend set by a weaker Wall Street. This decline was driven by concerns about an escalation of the Middle East conflict, which negatively impacted investor sentiment.

At the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.82 per cent lower at 6,844.1.

Futures

The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a rise of 60 points.

The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a rise of 11.25 points.

The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a rise of 41 points.

The SPI futures are down 50 points.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector was Health Care, up 1.53 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Energy, down 3 per cent.

The best-performing large cap was ResMed (ASX:RMD), closing 3.53 per cent higher at $23.44. It was followed by shares in Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation (ASX:FPH) and ASX (ASX:ASX).

The worst-performing large cap was New Hope Corporation (ASX:NHC), closing 8.5 per cent lower at $5.92. It was followed by shares in Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) and Meridian Energy (ASX:MEZ).

Asian markets

Japan's Nikkei has lost 0.81 per cent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng has lost 0.72 per cent.

China's Shanghai Composite has lost 0.98 per cent.

Company news

Immutep (ASX:IMM; NASDAQ:IMMP) announced that their Efti, a soluble LAG-3 protein, in Combination with KEYTRUDA®, generates excellent overall survival benefit in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. In response, Marc Voigt, Immutep CEO stated, “the strength of the data positions us well as we continue to plan and prepare for our Phase III trial that we expect to launch next year.” Shares closed 20 per cent higher at 33 cents.

Chimeric Therapeutics (ASX:CHM) announced positive preliminary phase 1A data for CLTX CAR T in the recurrent brain cancer clinical trial. In response, Jennifer Chow, CEO and Managing Director, stated, “Most exciting to us though, is that despite the advanced nature of the patients studied, CLTX CAR T demonstrated median survival of ~10 months for those that achieved disease control , with two patients demonstrating survival beyond 14 months.” Shares closed 32.1 per cent higher at 3.7 cents.

Sayona Mining (ASX:SYA; OTCQB:SYAXF) announced that their latest drilling results include the identification of high-grade lithium mineralisation outside the Mineral Resources estimate (MRE) pit shell model, indicating the potential to expand the existing resource. In response, Sayona’s Interim CEO, James Brown commented: “Moblan is an exciting project and the latest drilling results have only further highlighted its potential to become a major asset for Sayona.” Shares closed 2.41 per cent lower at 8.1 cents.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,986.00 an ounce.

Iron ore futures are pointing to a 3.2 per cent fall.

Light crude is trading $-1.15 lower at US$86.93 a barrel.

One Australian dollar is buying 63.13 US cents.

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