Australian shares retreat as CSL drags healthcare stocks lower on restructuring plans

Published on 08/19/2025 at 03:15 am EDT
ASX200 falls from Monday's record closing high
CSL slumps 16.9%, loses over A$20 billion in market value
Woodside falls 2.8%, Santos declines 2.6%, BHP gains 1.6%
NZ central bank decision due on Wednesday
(Reuters) - Australian shares pulled back on Tuesday from a record closing high scaled in the prior session, as biotech firm CSL dragged down healthcare stocks after unveiling job cuts and a plan to spin off its flu vaccine unit.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.7% lower at 8,896.20, slipping below the key 8,900 level.
Healthcare stocks led the decline, tumbling 8.7% to their lowest close since mid-May.
CSL tanked 16.9%, weighing heavily on the healthcare sub-index and overall benchmark, after the country's fourth-largest company announced plans to spin off its influenza vaccine division and cut up to 15% of its workforce.
CSL's weak guidance coupled with its restructuring plans has sent a "shudder through the market," said Henry Jennings, senior market analyst at Marcus Today newsletter.
The company lost more than A$20 billion ($12.98 billion) in market value on the day, logging its weakest trading session on record. CSL had 484.2 million outstanding shares at close on Monday, according to data compiled by LSEG .
Jennings does not expect the CSL impact to trickle down to other healthcare companies as there are not many businesses in Australia that are similar to the biotech major's operating structure.
Energy stocks hit a two-week low and closed 2.2% lower, tracking a fall in oil prices.
Woodside Energy slipped 2.8% after recording a slump in first-half profit, while Santos declined 2.6% after flagging a delay in finalising its takeover offer by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC)-led consortium.
Miners climbed, helped by a 1.6% advance in BHP after the miner declared a bigger-than-expected final dividend despite annual profit falling to a five-year low.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.3% to 12,928.68.
All eyes will be on the central bank's monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, where interest rates are widely expected to be lowered by a quarter-point, according to a Reuters poll. ($1 = 1.5413 Australian dollars) ( Reporting by Nikita Maria Jino in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu )

Sumber : Reuters