S&P/ASX 200 finishes slightly higher as Materials and Energy lift the Australian stock market; James Hardie leads gains, Catalyst Metals tops losers

The S&P/ASX 200 closed slightly higher on Thursday, December 11 rising 12.60 points, or 0.15%, to 8,592.00, lifting the index back above its 20-day moving average. Despite today’s uptick, the benchmark remains down 0.31% over the past five sessions, though it is still holding a 5.31% gain year-to-date.

S&P/ASX 200 top gainers James Hardie and Ramelius

James Hardie Industries PLC was the day’s strongest performer, jumping 7.13% to $30.51, while Ramelius Resources Limited climbed 6.72% to $3.81, supported by strength in the materials sector. Flight Centre Travel Group advanced 5.37%, Scentre Group added 4%, and Whitehaven Coal rose 3.11%, rounding out the top five gainers.


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S&P/ASX 200 top losers

On the downside, Catalyst Metals Limited posted the steepest loss, falling 8.86% to $6.07. DroneShield Limited slipped 6.64%, followed by Premier Investments, which lost 5.18%. Mesoblast dropped 4.53%, and Eagers Automotive declined 3.93%, marking the day’s weakest performers.

Sector-wise break up of Australian stock market

Sector movement was mixed across the market. Materials led with a 0.85% gain, supported by mining names, while A-REITs rose 0.69% and Energy added 0.60%. Financials and Utilities also ended in positive territory.

The biggest declines came from Information Technology, down 1.53%, and Health Care, which slipped 1.13%. Telecommunications Services, Consumer Discretionary, Industrials, and Consumer Staples all recorded modest losses.

One-week sector performance of S&P/ASX 200

Over the past week, the Information Technology sector posted the steepest decline, falling 4.16%, followed by Health Care, which dropped 2.37%. Consumer Discretionary slipped 2.33%, while Energy and Industrials fell 2.07% and 2.06% respectively. Utilities weakened by 1.74%, and Telecommunications Services dropped 1.25%. Consumer Staples edged down 0.62% over the week. Only two sectors ended higher: Materials, which gained 1.47%, and Financials, which rose 0.48%, standing out as the week’s strongest performers.