AU Evening Wrap: Five-week low as stocks get the September blues

The $S&P/ASX 200(.XJO.AU)$ slumped 141 points or 2.02 per cent.

$BHP Group Ltd(BHP.AU)$, the world's largest, miner, was the biggest drag on the index as its shares traded ex-dividend. Gold miners and property stocks also weighed.

$Woolworths Group Ltd(WOW.AU)$'s hotels-and-bottlos spin-off $Endeavour Group Ltd(EDV.AU)$ put on 2.61 per cent. Agribusiness $Elders Ltd(ELD.AU)$ tacked on 0.69 per cent. $The a2 Milk Co Ltd(A2M.AU)$ gained 2.7 per cent.

Kiwi healthcare giant $Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd(FPH.AU)$ firmed 0.86 per cent after striking a deal for land for a second New Zealand campus. The company will pay NZ$275 million for a 105 hectare site in Auckland.

News of a $2 million order from a European government lifted $Droneshield Ltd(DRO.AU)$ 9.09 per cent. The order was the company's largest yet from Europe.

Index heavyweight $BHP Group Ltd(BHP.AU)$ knocked more than 40 points off the index as its shares traded without the right to the next dividend. The Big Australian's shares skidded 7.61 per cent or $3.09 to $37.51. Shareholders will receive US$1.75 ($2.47) per share.

Ten of eleven sectors wilted under the cold winds blowing from Wall Street and bond markets. The yield on ten-year Australian government bonds climbed nine basis points today to the highest since late June.