The laggards

Shares in Fortescue (down 5.3 per cent) dived after Fortescue Metals said chief financial officer Christine Morris was leaving the company on Thursday, and Fortescue Future Industries director Guy Debelle said he was leaving its board.

Also on the losing end, lithium miner Liontown (down 3.7 per cent) and gold miners Evolution (down 2.2 per cent) and Northern Star (down 1.5 per cent) weighed the broader mining sector which shed 0.4 per cent. Iron ore heavyweight BHP slipped 0.3 per cent, further dragging down the sector.

Healthcare companies (down 1.4 per cent) were also weaker as Resmed (down 2.8 per cent), CSL (down 1.6 per cent) and Cochlear (down 1.1 per cent) declined.

Meanwhile, REITS (down 0.9 per cent) were also lower as Goodman Group (down 1.4 per cent), Charter Hall (down 2 per cent) and LendLease (down 0.5 per cent) dropped.

The lowdown

Jessica Amir, a market strategist at trading platform Moomoo, said the Australian sharemarket had a soggy start to September.

“September is traditionally the worst month for equities because it’s when dividends are paid out,” she said.

“But there was also another big executive walk out from the fourth-biggest iron ore company in the world.”

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Amir said following the resignation of the senior executives, investors had to think about what was going on.

“It has a lot to do with who we make most money from, and that’s China,” she said.

“Fortescue Metals makes almost 90 per cent of its money from China, and almost 100 per cent [of its] revenue from iron ore, so this many executives leaving one of the world’s largest mining companies begs the question of what the outlook is like for commodities and China.”

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With AP

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