ASX 200 LIVE: ASX falls as miners weigh; AMP shares soar 13pc

The benchmark S & P/ASX 200 Index slipped 0.2 per cent, or by 17.8 points, to 7682 at the closing bell, as five of the 11 sectors finished in the red. BHP Group declined 2 per cent to $40.21, Rio Tinto lost 2.1 per cent to $114.16 and Fortescue Metals dropped 1.8 per cent to $18.10. IG analyst Tony Sycamore wrote in a note to clients that the “big miners lost ground” on the lower iron ore price with Singapore futures off 1.7 per cent to $US99.2 a tonne in late afternoon trading. Elsewhere in the sector, IGO fell 2.5 per cent to $5.09 after the miner announced that it was considering divesting some of its nickel assets. The shares tumbled 9 per cent to $1.92. The result also dragged shares of Goodman down 2.2 per cent to $32.33 and Scentre off 1.5 per cent to $3.31. Stocks in focus AMP shares jumped 13.2 per cent to $1.28 after it reported a 5.4 per cent increase in net profit to $118 million in the half-year. The airline’s shares lost 2.2 per cent to $5.84. Transurban slid 0.8 per cent to $12.78 after it reported lower-than-expected income from roads in Sydney and Melbourne. Light & Wonder climbed 1.8 per cent to $159.87 after it posted growing revenue in its latest quarterly report. Gaming revenue increased to $US539 million, up 14 per cent compared to the prior year period. And Myer dropped 7.1 per cent to 78¢ after the retailer warned that net profit would be between $50 million and $54 million in FY24 – down from $71.1 million in the prior year – due to challenging trading conditions, the impact of store closures and inflationary cost pressures. Pacific Smiles shares tumbled 7.4 per cent to $1.87 after its shareholders voted down the $327 million takeover of the dentistry group by Crescent Capital. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: http://www.afr.com/markets/equity-markets/asx-to-slip-as-wall-st-struggles-to-advance-20240808-p5k0m3