That's it for another day on the blog where the ASX was the brave little bourse that could.

(Attention Rob who was looking for a definitive sign off before 6PM )

Starting down around 1%, it chugged uphill until the end, finally finishing in positive territory - well, the ASX 200 did. The All Ords was marginally lower, but still not a bad result given Wall Street's lead.

The big story of the day was the ongoing turmoil at the somewhat tarnished, one-time tech darling WiseTech.

Four directors, including the chairman, departed in unseemly haste this morning over intractable differences about what to do about the company's ongoing relationship with the headline-grabbing founding CEO Richard White.

The company tanked today, down more 20%, although a profit downgrade ahead of Wednesday's results had an impact as well.

It was also not a great day for a couple of ex-Star Entertainment executives who received the punishments in the Federal Court for various breaches of corporations law. 

Star's former chief casino officer Gregory Hawkins was ordered to pay a penalty of $180,000 and disqualified from managing corporations for 18 months, while former chief financial officer Harry Theodore was ordered to pay a $60,000 penalty and was disqualified from managing corporations for nine months.

Companies with well-received results included NIB, APA, Aussie Broadband and EVT.

The banks had a much better day after dropping 7% last week, with the CBA putting on 3% to remain in nose-bleed territory in terms of valuation.

Those under the investors' kosh for trotting out disappointing results included Reece, Ampol, Lovisa and NextDC.

Perpetual also had a rough day after pulling the pin on a takeover from US corporate raider KKR - something that might lead to a bitter legal battle over break fees.

Looking ahead, futures trading points to modest gains being made on US and European markets tonight.

The blog will fire up again tomorrow morning - don't miss it.

Thanks for the company. Until next time.

Having fallen by close to 1% in early trade, the ASX 200 clawed back to end the day in positive territory.

The ASX 200 put on 0.1% to close at 8,308 points while the broader All Ordinaries index dropped 0.1% to 8,560 points.

Utilities, led by APA's well-received result, and the banks did much of the heavy lifting, while the tech sector has been weighed down by heavyweight WiseTech.

After dropping around 7% last week, the banks were back in in favour today, with ANZ and CBA up 2.6% and 3.0% respectively.

On the other end of the ASX barbell, the miners weighed things down.

WiseTech's tumble (-20.1%) was sparked by the news four independent directors would leave the board with almost immediate effect due to intractable differences over the future of founder Richard White's ongoing role in the company.

A profit warning this morning didn't help either.

Iress (-14.5%), Reece (-13.7%) and NextDC (-2.6%) all posted results that weren't warmly received, while Alcoa tumbled on the back of an almost 8% fall from US-based parent on Friday.

Entertaiment and hospitality business EVT (+12.9%) was the best performing stock on the ASX 200 after a solid interim result.

Health insurer NIB also did well (+12.5%) on the basis that things could have been worse.

NIB announced a 20% fall in first-half profit and cut its interim dividend, but the silver lining was a record in sales revenue.

Rob Wheals, the chief executive of Squadron Energy, rejected APA's criticism of LNG imports.

Mr Wheals said suggestions imports would push up the price of gas in Australia were based on flawed assumptions.

Pointedly, he said they ignored the likelihood of a global gas glut in the coming years as huge volumes of extra supply came online from exporting giants led by Qatar and the US.

"Claims that LNG imports will drive up the price of domestic gas are wrong," Mr Wheals said.

"Multiple independent analysts including Bloomberg, EnergyQuest and Wood Mackenzie have forecast a global LNG oversupply in the coming years, driving prices down.

"Our Port Kembla Energy Terminal is the only solution ready in time with enough capacity to prevent future gas shortages and price spikes, and no pipeline expansion will be large enough or ready in time to address this crisis.

"PKET will unlock access to cheaper global LNG supplies, allowing NSW and Victoria to secure lower-cost gas during northern hemisphere summers (our winter) when prices are at their lowest.

"What would be truly disastrous is failing to act now, locking Australia into a supply crunch and leaving households and businesses exposed to higher prices and shortages during winter peaks."

• ASX 200: +0.1 at 8,308 points (live values below)
• Australian dollar: +0.4% to 63.79 US cents
• Asia: Nikkei closed, Hang Seng -0.6%, Shanghai -0.2%
• Wall Street (Friday): Dow -1.7%, S&P 500 -1.7%, Nasdaq -2.2%
• Europe (Friday): DAX -0.1%, FTSE flat, Eurostoxx +0.5%
• Spot gold: +0.2% to $US2,941/ounce
• Brent crude: -0.2% to US$74.29/barrel
• Iron ore (Friday): -0.1% to $US107.80 a tonne
• Bitcoin: -0.1% to $US95,479

Prices current around 4:20pm AEDT.

Live updates on the major ASX indices:

The punishments meted out to former Star Entertainment executives continue to mount, with two more receiving penalties in the Federal Court today.

Star's former chief casino officer Gregory Hawkins was ordered to pay a penalty of $180,000 and disqualified from managing corporations for 18 months, while former chief financial officer Harry Theodore was ordered to pay a $60,000 penalty and was disqualified from managing corporations for nine months.

Both pleaded guilty in the action brought against them by the corporate regulator ASIC.

Proceedings are still continuing against nine other Star officers and directors.

The action against Mr Hawkins included approving an agreement between Star and the gambling junket Suncity in 2018 which provided Suncity exclusive access to a private gaming room in the Sydney casino known as "Salon 95" when he knew that the conduct of Suncity's representatives exposed Star to the risk that it would breach the law.

Mr Theodore was found to have breached the Corporations Act by failing to prevent Star from sending correspondence to National Australia Bank on November 7, 2019, which contained inaccurate, incomplete and misleading representations.

The companies reporting today and seeing their share prices fall include:

NextDC: -1.5%, Another loss but at $33.5 million narrower

Analyst comment: Result broadly in line with expectations. Forward order book looks strong, but no hyperscale contracts announced and costs increased.

Ampol: -2.2%, the 78% drop in net profit had been foreshadowed

Analyst commentary - the convenience store outlook is positive, but the dividend payout was weaker than expected. Debt at the top end of company's target range.

Lovisa: -4.6%, The $56 million net profit was 5.6% higher than last year.

Analyst comment:  Earnings lower than expected but margins were a positive surprise

Reece: -11.4%, $182 million net profit, dividend 6.5cps

Analyst comment: A small miss on profit, dividend a disappointment, new store roll-out higher than expected

The companies reporting today and seeing their share prices rise include:

NIB: +14.3% despite profit falling and dividend cut

Analyst comment: Broadly in line result, health insurance business stabilising, net margins better than expected, guidance maintained.

APA:  +7.9% despite a profit falling 97%, dividend increased

Analyst comment: Result broadly in line, Net profit miss due to higher finance costs, expansion plans remain a challenge.

Aussie Broadband: +1.6%, Net profit up 22% dividend maintained

Analyst comment: An upgraded earnings guidance was the key positive

Regis Healthcare: +1.4% , Swings back into profit ($24m), dividend raised

Analyst comment:  One-off benefit led to earnings beat, strong occupancy rates.

EVT: +11.4%, Net profit up 52%, interim dividend higher

Analyst comment: The entertainment and hospitality business beat earlier guidance, strong earnings and balance sheet, although new guidance is for "modest" earnings growth.

Australia's biggest operator of gas pipelines will spend tens of millions of dollars upgrading its network on the east coast in a bid to kill off the need for imports from overseas.

Releasing its half-year financial results today, APA said it was undertaking a five-year expansion of its "east coast gas grid" to boost its capacity to bring gas from Queensland to Victoria by 24 per cent.

The company, which owns a vast network of gas pipelines across the country, said it would shell out $75 million in several stages to deliver much of the increased capacity.

Initial work would involve converting a pipeline that used to take ethane from Moomba in South Australia to Synergy to ensure it could handle natural gas.

Money would also be spent on new compression capacity to ensure more gas could be squeezed into the existing network.

Longer-term, APA said it would build a new pipeline known as the "Blue Interlink" that would run between the company's Queensland network and the Moomba-Synergy connection.

And it would also aim to develop new storage facilities in New South Wales and Victoria by the end of this decade.

The announcement from APA comes amid growing concerns about the risks of gas shortages in the southern states of NSW, Victoria and South Australia.

Last year, the Australian Energy Market Operator warned the shortages could arise every winter from 2025 onwards but get worse as supplies from the Bass Strait — the bedrock of the east-coast industry — rapidly fell away.

To deal with the forecast shortfalls, billionaire Andrew Forrest's Squadron Energy has built an LNG import terminal at Port Kembla south of Sydney, which is due to begin operations this winter.

There are plans for other terminals, too, including near Geelong in Victoria.

However, APA boss Adam Watson said the company's expansion of its pipeline capacity brought into question the entire business case for imported liquefied natural gas, or LNG.

Mr Watson acknowledged there was a strong need for extra gas seasonal capacity to the southern states but argued its upgrades would be more than enough to cater to the demand.

He said that although APA was in discussions with customers who would ultimately have to pay for the expansions, the economics were a "slam dunk".

WiseTech shares are down nearly 22 per cent, and its boardroom exodus isn't the only issue it's facing today.

This afternoon it issued a further update to the stock exchange, responding to questions from exchange operator ASX about its transparency with investors.

The ASX compliance team wrote to WiseTech last week requesting the company respond to questions, and release correspondence with journalists prior to its revelation that Mr White had not finalised the full terms of his new role.

WiseTech denied that the new information was material, given the key terms of his engagement as founder and founding CEO were released to the market back in October.

"…both the company and Mr White were operating in accordance to those terms. The board intended that a formal written document would be prepared and signed in due course," it said in response to the ASX probe.

Mr White's role, which was announced when he stepped down as CEO last year, is also at the centre of the resignation of the company's independent chair and three other directors.

The resignations, effective Wednesday, were put down to "intractable differences" among the board and "differing views" on Mr White's continued engagement with the company.

You can read more here:

In 2024, just 2 per cent of total capital raised in Australia went to all-female founded teams and just 15 per cent of investments went to startups with at least one woman in the founding team.

There are calls to shift the dial by introducing mandatory reporting for venture capital firms in Australia, similar to laws introduced in California in 2023.

The debate around how to improve access to funding for female founders and start-ups comes as the corporate climate shifts significantly in the US.

US President Donald Trump recently issued an executive order to abandon workplace diversity and inclusion policies placed on companies.

The Republicans argue quotas promote discrimination by encouraging bosses to hire someone based on their race or sex.

But entrepreneurs and investors have told The Business mandatory reporting, quotas and KPIs are crucial to driving change.

You can read more here from business reporter Nassim Khadem: