Market Wrap / golden acquisition

December got off to a solid start, however the initial enthusiasm waned in afternoon trade. The S&P/ASX200 lost its earlier momentum and settled at 8447.90 points, up 0.14% from the previous session. 

The IT sector was the best performing today, gaining around 1%. But those gains were offset by weakness in healthcare, as CSL lost 0.6%. 

As with the rest of the market, the miners overall stayed flat, but with very contrasting performances. Shares in gold miner Northern Star Resources slumped 5.3% as investors reacted to its $5 billion agreement to buy De Grey Mining. De Grey jumped 29.6% on the news. Elsewhere, market heavyweight Rio Tinto gained around 1%. 

IGA-owner Metcash reported a 5.5% decrease in first half underlying profit to $141.8 million. But, for the first four weeks of the second half of 2025, total group sales rose 8%. Metcash shares rose 2.2% as it announced an 8.5 cent per share dividend for the first half.

Elsewhere, Investment platform Netwealth reached $100 billion in funds under administration. The milestone coincided with Netwealth's 25-year anniversary. Shares fell 5% during Monday’s trade following a year-to-date rally of almost 90%.

Tonight, US construction spending numbers are expected. Locally tomorrow, we’ll look at the balance of payments for the September quarter.