AU Evening Wrap: ASX Closes Higher as Tech Rallies; Fortescue, Rio Tinto Sink

The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ closed just 7.7 points, or 0.1 per cent, higher at 7042.7, but is still hovering near at its lowest point since July 11. The All Ordinaries also gained 0.1 per cent.

Material stocks sank 1 per cent lower, with iron ore miner $Fortescue Ltd (FMG.AU)$ dropping 1.3 per cent to $20.54 and $Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO.AU)$ falling 1.2 per cent to $113.18.

However, gains in tech stocks helped offset the heavier losses in materials, ending the day 1.9 per cent higher. $WiseTech Global Ltd (WTC.AU)$ rose 1.5 per cent to $67.85, $Xero Ltd (XRO.AU)$ jumped 2 per cent to $116.97 and $Altium Ltd (ALU.AU)$ gained 1.7 per cent to $44.47.

Uranium miners also posted gains following another rally in the commodities price earlier this month. $Paladin Energy Ltd (PDN.AU)$ gained 6.1 per cent to $1.04, $Boss Energy Ltd (BOE.AU)$ jumped 5.1 per cent to $4.73 and $Bannerman Energy Ltd (BMN.AU)$ soared 11.8 per cent to $2.76.

In company news, $Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN.AU)$ fell 1.5 per cent to trade near a one-year low as the embattled airline flagged another $80 million in customer improvement costs and an expected $200 million hit from rising fuel costs. Shares last traded at $5.23.

$Allkem Ltd (AKE.AU)$ slipped 3.3 per cent to $11.62 after news the cost of building the lithium hopeful's three flagship projects had blown out by $US413 million ($640.7 million) because of higher labour and material expenses.

$Polynovo Ltd (PNV.AU)$ jumped 3.3 per cent to $1.26. The health tech developer reported a surge in revenue in August to $7.7 million, more than double its year-earlier revenue of $3.5 million. Revenue from January-August jumped to $14.9 million from $7.7 million in the year-earlier period.

New Zealand dairy giant $Synlait Milk Ltd (SM1.AU)$ lifted 1.3 per cent to $1.19 after posting a FY23 net loss of $NZ4.3 million ($3.98 million), which came in above market expectations. The results arrive against a backdrop of worsening relations with its dairy products manufacturer a2 Milk, which threatened to end a long-standing exclusivity agreement between the two companies last week.