Gold mining company Newmont was the worst performer on the index, falling 13.6 per cent after its third-quarter update showed signs it’s struggling amid rising mining costs.

Mineral Resources was the next worst performer on the index, closing 5 per cent lower. Fortescue’s share price dipped into negative territory from lunchtime, closing 0.7 per cent lower.

The lowdown

AustralianSuper has said it will remain a long-term investor in WiseTech, noting that it has engaged with the board of the now embattled tech company to raise concerns.

“AustralianSuper has engaged with the board and management of WiseTech extensively over the past fortnight. The fund notes that the WiseTech board has engaged appropriate experts to review the specific issues raised and we support this approach,” a spokesman told Bloomberg.

“We remain a long-term investor in WiseTech and consider its long-term value proposition as strong.”

Chief Investment Officer at Sage Capital, Sean Fenton, said the departure of the WiseTech CEO had renewed interest from short-sellers who removed or closed their short positions.

Loading

“It’s not necessarily investors are keen on the stock. You can see during the day, it started off very strongly, even stronger than where we are now, and eased off during the day. That could be investors taking some profit out of that, or finding a reason to reduce their holding,” said Fenton.

“It’s more so that the likelihood of less distraction for the company results in those, people who are shorting it now, removing that short.”

Fenton said the lag that the gold miner Newmont had on the index on Friday was a result of numerous hits to the mining sector.

Loading

“Newmont, which is a very large weight in the index, is down quite strongly and that resulted in the mining sector being dragged down, along with continued impact from Mineral Resources,” he said.

Overnight, the S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent to break its first three-day losing streak since early September. It bounced between losses and gains through the day, and it was roughly evenly split between stocks rising and falling.

The Dow Jones fell 140 points, or 0.3 per cent, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.8 per cent.

Tesla led the market with a jump of 21.9 per cent after the electric-vehicle maker reported a better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. An optimistic CEO Elon Musk also predicted 20 per cent to 30 per cent sales growth next year, though its revenue for the latest quarter fell short of analysts’ forecasts. It was the best day for Tesla’s stock since 2013.

Quote of the day

“I acknowledge we do not always get it right” Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson said in her address to shareholders on Friday. “But the feedback from customers and what we hear when travelling suggests we have turned the corner.”

Hudson has told investors at its annual meeting in Hobart that the embattled airline is succeeding in its campaign to win back the hearts of customers as the airline assured travellers that a strike by hundreds of its engineers would not disrupt services, writes Colin Kruger.

You may have missed

Do you get the impression that online banking outages are a pretty common part of the financial landscape these days? You’re not imagining it, writes deputy business editor Clancy Yeates.

Westpac and the Commonwealth Bank have been the most recent banks to suffer high-profile tech glitches: Westpac’s app was down for periods over three consecutive days last week and an error at CBA last weekend meant some customers were charged twice for transactions, while others couldn’t log into the app.

With Bloomberg, AP

The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day’s trading. Get it each weekday afternoon.