Between the Bells

The local market ended Friday’s session 0.3% higher as a surge in tech stocks led the markets higher, while every sector aside from materials stocks also finished the day in the green. The winning stocks from Friday’s session were led by Bega Cheese (ASX:BGA) adding over 7.5% on the back of the company’s first half results being released, while Brambles (ASX:BXB) and Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) each also...

The Aussie share market declined 0.84% (Mon-Thu), as investors reacted to the latest company earnings announcements. This reporting season so far, we've seen 192 companies report, 62 beat expectations, 71 came in-line with expectations, while 59 companies fell short of expectations.    In this week's wrap, Grady covers: (0:50) Why your weekly food shop has increased in price (2:03) The s...

Overnight in the US, equities advanced higher in a late-day rally, with all three major benchmarks in positive territory. European stocks also moved higher in response to the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes, which showed that they’re still committed to fighting inflation with interest rate hikes. Equities were in the green, with the STOXX 600, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC all closing in the gr...

Wall St closed mixed on Wednesday following the release of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting minutes from earlier this month. The minutes outlined most Federal Reserve policymakers were in favour of slowing the pace of rate hikes in a bid to assess the economy’s progress, however policymakers also agreed unanimously that ongoing increases in the nation’s cash rate would be appropriate. This cau...

Wall Street retreated in the first trading session of the week in the US as rising interest rates continue pressuring investor sentiment, in addition to investors reacting to the latest batch of retail earnings raising concerns over how the consumer is faring the rising interest rate environment. The Dow Jones ended Tuesday’s session down 2.06%, the S&P500 lost 2% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq clo...

Please note: US markets were closed overnight. The major US benchmarks closed mixed to end last week, with energy stocks down the most, while yields on the 10-year and 2-year Treasury bonds also weighed on equities. European equities were higher however, boosted by gains in mining stocks.  Coming up this week – the thinking behind monetary decisions at the Fed will be under the spotlight on Wednes...

The local market closed almost 1% lower on Friday as a sell-off in technology stocks weighed on the key index, with investors fleeing growth stocks in fear of further rate hikes out of the RBA and Federal Reserve. Baby Bunting (ASX:BBN) fell over 6% on Friday after reporting a 66.5% drop in net profit for the first half, while QBE (ASX:QBE) insurance rallied over 7% on strong first half results in...

The Aussie share market fell 0.31% (Mon-Thu), weighed down by US CPI data and investor reactions to reporting season results. An increase to the unemployment rate was also announced this week, strengthening investor appetite for growth stocks. In this week's wrap, Grady covers: (0:29) What the big banks focused on this reporting season (2:25) Wesfarmers & Whitehaven Coal's corporate...

Wall Street slipped on Thursday to close lower as another piece of economic data was released coming in stronger than expected. For the month of January, US PPI or producer price index rose 0.7% MoM which is the highest growth in 7-monthsand much higher than market forecasts of 0.4%. Goods prices jumped 1.2%, the largest increase since June 2022. The data is another sign this week that the Fed’s a...

US equities advanced overnight as investors consider the strong retail sales data along with the latest US inflation data, and what this means for the Fed’s interest rate hiking campaign. In the prior session US inflation came in slightly above expectations, with headline year-on-year CPI dropping to 6.4% in January. The data drove yields higher across the curve, with the 20-year yield jumping 10...

The ASX fell 1.06% today following the release of stronger-than-expected CPI data out in the US overnight which sent shockwaves through investor confidence, renewing fears of the Fed continuing its aggressive rate hike stance. Investors sold out of financial stocks today amid fears of increasing doubtful debts on bank balance sheets resulting from further rate hikes anticipated. Reporting season a...

US equities were sold-off in the hour of trade following the release of the highly anticipated January CPI report which showed inflation in the US remains stubbornly hot. For January, US inflation came in at a rise of 0.5% which translated to an annual gain of 6.4%, which was above economists’ expectations of a decline in CPI to 6.2% YoY. The way inflation has remained stubbornly high is further s...

The local market recovered from Monday’s sell-off on Tuesday to close the session 0.18% higher as investor optimism was boosted by Aussie business confidence jumping for January after dropping at the tail end of 2022. Investors piled into tech stocks today with the sector rising 1.3% at the closing bell as investor appetite for growth stocks increases with every ease in rate hike announcements. Ec...

US equities rallied overnight, regaining ground after the S&P500 and the Nasdaq suffered their worst weekly decline in nearly two months. The Dow Jones traded 376.66 points higher or 1.11%, the S&P500 climbed 1.14% and the Nasdaq jumped 1.48%. And the energy minerals sector was the biggest laggard across US markets, with oil and gas companies such as EQT Corporation and Marathon Oil weighi...

The local market has started the week in negative territory, closing Monday’s session down 0.21%, dragged lower by a sharp sell-off in consumer discretionary stocks amid the release of some disappointing half year results today. The energy sector on the other hand soared just under 2% today buoyed by an early rise in the price of oil amid reports Russia will cut production of the commodity. Report...

Technology retailer JB Hi-Fi (ASX:JBH) released first half results this morning with performance coming in, in-line with Bell Potter and Citi expectations, but just short of Consensus expectations. For the half, JB Hi-Fi reported total sales rose 8.6% to $5.28 billion driven by elevated demand for consumer electronics and home appliances INCLUDING well executed Black Friday and Boxing day sales. E...

The local market ended Friday’s session down 0.76% as every sector aside from consumer staples stocks ended the day in the red, heavily weighed down by a sharp sell-off in technology stocks. The local market suffered its worst trading week since September last week, ending the week down 1.65%, weighed down by a sharp sell-off in real estate and tech stocks. The winning stocks on Friday were, Imuge...

The Aussie share market fell almost 1% (Mon-Thu), on the back of the RBA raising the nation's cash rate by 25-basis points to 3.35%. And reporting season opened with some of Australia’s biggest companies announcing their results.   In this week's wrap, Grady covers: (0:30) How investors have reacted to company results (0:57) Suncorp, Boral, AGL Energy & Amcor's corporate earning...

New York edged lower overnight amid renewed rate-worry weakness. All three major benchmarks closed in the red, and all eleven of the S&P500 industry sectors closed lower. The Dow Jones is down 0.7%, the S&P500 down 0.9% and the Nasdaq down just over 1%. Over in Europe however, equities rallied, with the STOXX 600 closing 0.6% higher, Germany’s DAX up 0.7%, France’s CAC up 1% and the FTSE 1...

The overnight retreat on Wall Street weighed down the local stock market, with the ASX200 closing the day 0.53% lower. The utilities sector led the fall on the back of the weak half year result from AGL Energy. It’s shares dropped 9.6% as it halved its dividend and lowered the top end of its annual guidance ranges. Underlying NPAT fell 55% year-on-year to $87 million, and underlying EBITDA fell 16...

US stocks slid at the closing bell of the midweek session as investors shifted focus back to corporate earnings reports and away from dovish comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell about the future of US cash rate hikes amid slowing economic growth. Lumen Technologies tanked more than 20% after reporting a fourth-quarter loss of US$3.1bn and provided guidance for the year that fell well short of Wall...

The ASX rallied 0.35% today, rebounding from yesterday’s rate-driven sell-off as investors piled into financial and material stocks today, while selling out of health care and consumer staples stocks. Boral (ASX:BLD) shares took flight today, adding over 12% after the building and construction materials supplier released first half results including revenue up 12% to $1.681bn, EBIT up 15% at $95.3...

Over in the US today, stocks closed higher as investors digested Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech to gain insight into just how long the Fed will continue raising interest rates to tackle inflation in the US. Jay Powell once again made dovish comments in his speech, reassuring markets that the disinflationary pressures have begun, particularly in the goods sector, while also saying that the Fed ha...

The RBA today announced the nation’s cash rate will increase by 0.25% or 25 basis points, to 3.35% in a move widely expected by the markets. RBA governor Philip Lowe said ‘global inflation remains very high’ and warned further rate hikes will be needed in coming months to bring inflation back to the target range. The ASX tanked immediately after the announcement following warnings from Philip Lowe...

Looking at global markets, the energy sector is underperforming: it’s been the worst performing sector month-to-date in all regions. Weakness in energy equities has coincided with that of energy commodities: all members of the petroleum complex, are down year-to-date, as well as Natural Gas down 41% so far in 2023. Information technology on the other hand, has outperformed everywhere, in particula...