ASX 200 LIVE: Shares gain; WiseTech has best day in two months ...

Updated Oct 25, 2024 – 4.49pm, first published at 7.34am

Pinned post – 4.49PM

A rebound in ASX software giant WiseTech almost single-handedly helped the Australian sharemarket eke out a modest gain in the final session of the week.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 5 points, or 0.1 per cent 8211.3 points, on Friday in its third session of subdued trading following a 1.7 per cent sell-off on Tuesday. The index fell 0.9 per cent across five days.

Tech stocks were driven by a 12.7 per cent rally to $112 by WiseTech as brokers scrambled to upgrade their recommendations following the resignation of CEO and founder Richard White, who will return to the business as a consultant.

Consumer staples were dragged down by the supermarket giants. Woolworths fell 1.6 per cent to $32.69 and Coles dropped 1 per cent to $18.16.

Lithium miner Mineral Resources tumbled 5 per cent to $34.12 after The Australian Financial Review reported two of its board members, including founder and managing director Chris Ellison, purchased mining equipment from the company at discounts to market rates. Major investor AustralianSuper revealed it had reduced its stake in MinRes.

Gold miner Newmont was the index’s biggest laggard, down 13.6 per cent to $70.74 after its earnings revealed the gold producer is struggling under rising costs. That was despite posting the chunkiest quarterly profit in five years.

HMC Capital rose 12.5 per cent to $10.36 after raising $300 million to help fund its near $2 billion purchase of Sydney data centre developer Global Switch Australia.

ResMed added 5.9 per cent to $37.73 following increased revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 driven by higher demand for its sleep devices and masks.

IGA supermarkets supplier Metcash dropped 3.3 per cent to $3.19 after flagging additional cost-cutting measures in response to weak trading in its hardware unit.

Qantas added 1.5 per cent to $8.03 as demand for travel remained stable in the first half of fiscal 2025 and its Jetstar business outperformed.