Shares slips; Integral Diagnostic swings to loss; Coles reports higher profit; Lovisa’s revenue jumps; BHP cuts dividend; Telix revamp.

The sharemarket erased early gains to trade lower on Tuesday as investors weigh up rising tensions in the Middle East and a fresh wave of profit results from some of Australia’s largest companies.

The S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2 per cent, or 14.2 points to 8070.30, having traded in a tight range all morning. It remains within striking distance of a record high of 8148.7 hit earlier this month.

Eight of the index’s 11 sectors were in the red, led by tech and banks. Energy trimmed gains but was still the top sector.

All of Tuesday’s trading activity focused on Woodside, BHP, Coles and Worley after the companies’ posted results, with Woodside and Worley among the top gainers.

Shares in Woodside jumped 4 per cent after reporting a smaller-than-forecast decline in net profit in the six months to June as LNG prices softened.

“The key thing for Woodside was the discussion around dividends,” said Hugh Dive, chief investment officer of Atlas Funds Management, which owns the stock. “It came at the top end of the payout ratio at US69¢, and more importantly, management said there would be no changes to the dividend’s policy.”

Further underpinning the energy sector was a 3 per cent spike in oil prices overnight, with Brent climbing above $US81 a barrel on supply concerns after Libya’s eastern government shut down oil fields.

Index-heavy mining giant BHP rose 2 per cent after a slightly better-than-expected $US13.7 billion ($20.2 billion) underlying profit.

Supermarket giant Coles advanced 1.8 per cent after reporting stronger full-year net profit in fiscal 2024, taking total dividends to 68¢ fully franked.

Global engineering group Worley leapt 3.3 per cent thanks to higher profits in 2024.

Stocks on the move

Elsewhere on the ASX, the largest laggard was property services business Johns Lyng Group, which slumped 25 per cent after a revenue decline in the year ended June 30.

Jewellery retailer Lovisa tumbled nearly 14 per cent after a trading update disappointed investors, despite posting higher net profit in 2024.

Mexican-themed fast-food business Guzman y Gomez lost 2.7 per cent on deeper losses in fiscal 2024.

Buy now, pay later outfit Zip plunged nearly 10 per cent despite a sharp lift in the value of transactions, as more US consumers adopt its short-term credit app.

And shipbuilder Austal leapt around 5 per cent in a relief rally after accepting a $US24 million ($35.4 million) penalty to head off criminal prosecution by US regulators in a fraud investigation.