The COB from ausbiz

Local stocks bounced back after Monday’s rout, powered by strong gains in energy, real estate and tech. The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5% to 6998.3, hovering around the figure for the entirety of the session. The burst of buying may reflect bargain hunting. However, being 30 August, month-end window-dressing may have been a factor. Mysteriously, magic melt-ups regularly occur at month-end... Our top t...

We signed off Friday speculating on we would be walking into after Jerome Powell’s big speech. The answer was a bloodbath. It was predictably ugly. The S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.95% to 6965.5, logging its largest daily decline since June 30. Every sector closed deep in the red, led by information technology which tumbled 4.4%. Financials, materials and consumer discretionary didn’t fare much better,...

Boom! What risk event at Jackson Hole later tonight?! The benchmark behaved like Powell will announce he’s cutting rates, adding 0.8% to close at 7104.1, almost exactly where it started the week. Across the sectors, only telecommunications finished lower – the one fly in an otherwise perfect ointment. The gains were evenly distributed elsewhere with financials, materials, energy, staples, healthca...

Stairway to seven heaven... the ASX/S&P200 closed above the 7000 mark rallying 0.71% to 7048.1. Most sectors ended the session in the green, apart from consumer staples and utilities which fell 1.87% and 0.55% respectively. Reporting season news was the key driver for share price moves. Insignia Financial was the big winner, popping 11.3% after posting a decent full year profit. Paladin,...

Wall Street’s lead was - shall we say – tepid at best. But materials and energy performed well and that flowed through to the ASX200 today. The local bourse closed 0.52% at 6998. The energy sector in particular outperformed, after a big drawdown in crude inventories was revealed in last night’s API inventory report. The gains were remarkably broad-based. And of course, the news flow was domin...

Downside momentum continued for a second session, seeing the local market hit four-week lows. The S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.21% to 6961.8, the weakest close since late July. Energy was the standout, lifting 1.3% as China moved to support its ailing property sector while Saudi Arabia warned over the potential for cuts to crude oil supply. Except for utilities, it was the only sector to finish higher....

The S&P/ASX 200 slumped 0.95% to 7047, dragged lower by losses across all sectors. The largest declines were seen in consumer discretionary, financials, information technology and real estate which skidded more than 1%. The weakness came ahead of the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, headlined by a speech from Fed chair Jerome Powell. There was little reaction to China cutting another key inter...

A quiet and cautious end to what’s been a hectic week. We’re nearing the halfway point of reporting season so there’s a degree of exhaustion creeping in. The S&P/ASX 200 eked out the smallest of gains, rising 0.02% to 7115. It climbed 1.17% over the five trading days, logging its fifth consecutive weekly increase. Energy was again the star performer, picking up where it left off Thursday. It s...

A rare down day for the local market, at least in recent times. The S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.21%, closing trade at 7112.8. The performance mirrored that of Wall Street and most of the Asian region. Blackmores  needed an urgent dose of vitamin C, tumbling 10.4% following the release of its full-year results. Codan,  Evolution Mining , Origin Energy and  ASX  also suffered earni...

Another day another gain, helped by a solid performance from the retailers. The S&P/ASX 200 added 0.31%, closing at a fresh two-month high of 7127.7. Following the strong lead provided by US retailers Walmart and Home Depot after their earnings easily beat lowered analyst forecasts, consumer discretionary and consumer staples were the standout performers for the session, climbing 1.4% and...

BHP delivered a bumper set of results, and of course, the overall market rose. Profits soundly beat estimates. And the company delivered a fatter dividend of $1.75. Its shares finished the session 4% higher. It was a remarkably flat session after an initial rally at the open for the ASX200. The index finished 0.58% higher close at 7105. The corporate news is coming in thick and fast. James Hardie...

Wall Street’s lead guided the ASX200 higher with market holding onto its early gains to close 0.45% higher at 7064. Earnings season is well and truly underway now, with some heavy hitters handing down results. JB Hi-Fi delivered a solid set of full year numbers but skipped on guidance, so the stock cut 1% for the session. Meanwhile, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank reported and warned of slowing loan gro...

The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.54% to 7032.5, dragged lower by heavy losses in real estate, information technology, healthcare and consumer discretionary. Regular readers would know today’s losers were yesterday’s big winners. What do they say again? Swings and roundabouts. Despite the small hiccup, the benchmark still logged its fourth straight week of gains. It’s been over a year since we’ve seen a...

Hopes that US inflation has peaked helped push the local market to fresh multi-month highs. The S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.1% to 7071, closing at the highest level since June 8th. From the recent lows, the benchmark has added a cool 10.4%. Underneath the hood, gains were broad based with only utilities finishing lower. Materials, consumer discretionary, information technology, healthcare and REITs...

Details within the Commonwealth Bank’s full year results were clearly enough to bolster confidence in the broader banking sector, resulting in big gains for the majors and regional players. ANZ jumped 3.5%, Westpac 1.8% and NAB 1.6%, boosting the financial sector to a 0.5% gain. Performances elsewhere were less convincing. IT was walloped 3.8% following profit warnings from US chip manufacturers,...

The banks and the big miners weighed on overall performance, though it was a decent day with the local market finishing up 0.13% at 7,029. The S&P/ASX200 has been trading in a tight range, still, it was good to watch it touch a two-month high ahead of Wednesday's US inflation report and after a 'mixed and moody' session on Wall Street. Domain topped the list of leaders, despite a dow...

It's a day that will be remembered for BHP’s move to acquire Oz Minerals rather than corporate earnings. The local market inched up 0.07% to 7021, boosted by strong gains across the materials and energy sectors. M&A activity, along with a lessening of global recession concerns following Friday’s big US employment beat, clearly benefitting the mining space. Oz Minerals was the standout per...

A quiet session characterised by weak volumes and limited news flow. There’ll be plenty of the latter next week when reporting season gets into full swing. Materials, consumer and healthcare led the way, a motley crew that fit nicely with the overall tone of the session. Gains were kept in check by steep falls across the energy sector, mirroring similar moves in the energy complex overnight. Tech...

Life back above 7000 was short-lived, with an initial rally for the ASX200 faded throughout the day. The local bourse closed flat at 6974. IT stocks had a good day - especially stocks of a more speculative nature. Telecommunications, REITs and utilities also pushed higher. The drag on the market primarily came from the iron ore miners and energy stocks - the latter falling after a larger than expe...

The ASX 200 couldn’t quite crack the 7,000 mark, we did finish off the day's lows but ended up with a 0.3% fall to finish at 6,975. Nine of eleven sectors finished lower, with consumer stocks the big laggards. IT was the leading light, jumping 2.4%. Pinnacle Investment Management was the star performer, rallying 12% after the company reported full-year earnings which beat market expectations (chec...

The RBA hiked rates but softened its tone in its statement, giving local equities a boost. The central bank raised the cash rate by 50bps to 1.85% as expected, but implored that policy is not on a “pre-set path”. The ASX 200 leapt out of negative territory, which it had been stuck in all day, to finish off the day’s trade flat at 6998. Yields dropped and the AUD/USD tumbled back below 70...

A new day, week and month; it took a while for the local market to wake-up. Despite the sluggish start, the ASX200 managed to add 0.69% for the session, to close at 6993. A mix of healthcare, telcos, utilities and energy underpinned the gains. Defensive stocks are enjoying the benefits of the recent move lower in bond yields. Energy followed the lead of its US counterparts after strong result...

Happy days. Happy week and month, actually. The local market closed 0.81% higher for the day, taking the weekly and monthly gain to 2.3% and 3.6% respectively. It was a broad-based rally again, too. All bar the healthcare sector finished in positive territory - but it was only down 0.06%. The drop in global yields after weaker than expected US GDP data supported rate sensitive areas of our stock m...

The Fed did what it was expected to and global markets rejoiced. Wall Street soared - and that set up the ASX200 for its 0.97% gain today. It was a broad-based rally and cyclicals led the charge. Materials, energy and financials surged. The defensive utilities and health-care sectors lagged. On the corporate front, Rio Tinto brushed off early losses after reporting overnight. Meanwhile, Macquaries...

Another choppy session for the ASX200, which has managed to hold up despite the deluge of US earnings and macroeconomic event risk. The local bourse closed near the highs of the session at 6823 for a 0.23% gain. The rise was underpinned by a mix of healthcare, industrials and financials. Consumer stocks also bounced back after a small rinsing yesterday. On the flip side, the materials sector was a...