AU Evening Wrap: ASX Ends Lower Despite Woodside, Santos Track Oil Higher

The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ fell by 57.2 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 7257.1, with the tech and communication services sectors both declining more than 1.3 per cent. The All Ordinaries fell 0.7 per cent.

$Woodside Energy Group Ltd (WDS.AU)$ advanced 1.4 per cent to $38.54, $Santos Ltd (STO.AU)$ 1 per cent to $7.96 and $Beach Energy Ltd (BPT.AU)$ 1.4 per cent to $1.62, tracking yet more gains in the oil price, with the Brent crude breaking through the $US90 a barrel threshold for the first time since November.

Coal producers also helped the sector higher. $Yancoal Australia Ltd (YAL.AU)$ jumped 2 per cent to $5.12 and $New Hope Corp Ltd (NHC.AU)$ 0.8 per cent to $5.97, following a moderate 2.6 per cent increase to coal royalties in New South Wales, where the miners operate.

In other company news, $Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN.AU)$ shares rose 1.4 per cent to $5.72 as Vanessa Hudson became the airline's CEO and managing director, following the shock departure of Alan Joyce yesterday.

$Sayona Mining Ltd (SYA.AU)$ shares sunk 4.4 per cent to 11¢ after the lithium producer received the first cash proceeds for its Canadian spodumene operation, which is jointly owned by Sayona and Piedmont Lithium.

Shares in $ResMed Inc (RMD.AU)$ dropped 2.9 per cent to $23.82 after analysts at UBS downgraded the dual-listed healthtech stock due to the rise of competitor treatments.

Bottle maker $Orora Ltd (ORA.AU)$ plunged 17.9 per cent to $2.89 after shares hit the market for the first time this month, following a $1.35 billion equity raise to fund the buyout of France's Saverglass. Shares had been halted since August 30.

$Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (PBH.AU)$ collapsed 55 per cent to 74.5¢ marking the end of a massive $315 million capital return following the sale of its US business to Fanatics Betting and Gaming.

$Macquarie Group Ltd (MQG.AU)$ dropped 3.8 per cent to $170.21 after flagging that investment-related income from its green energy investments was "substantially down" in the most recent quarter.

$TPG Telecom Ltd (TPG.AU)$ dropped 1.4 per cent to $5.58 after extending negotiations with Vocus Group over a fibre assets deal valued at $6.3 billion. Earlier this month, TPG Telecom's shares soared to their highest level in a year after the communications business confirmed it was in talks over the deal.