The COB from ausbiz

A big early bounce fizzled, undermined by weak Chinese economic data a reluctance from policymakers to ease monetary policy further. But back-to-back gains have been rare recently, so we’ll take the green on screen. Info Technology started where it left off last week, adding another 2.1%, helped by a big bounce on the Nasdaq on Friday. Xero’s substantial price drop is still attracting buyers, seei...

Thursday’s rout was replaced by Friday’s rally, creating a mirror image of 24 hours earlier. No news was good news, it seems. But who cares, we’ll take it. Mercifully, no sunglasses were required to peruse the market map. Except for the goldies, it was a placid sea of green. Every sector was higher, led by technology with a gain of 7%. Energy, consumer discretionary, healthcare, communications and...

Splat! Losses mounted as the session progressed, sending Australia’s benchmark index to the lowest close since late January. Every sector finished deep in the red, almost requiring this scribe to wear sunglasses to peruse the market map. It was glowing, and not in a good way. Tech was taken the woodshed and chopped up, plunging 8.7%. And you thought the Nasdaq unwind was big. Square was smashed, l...

The local market recovered from an early wobble to close in the green, helped by a surge in Chinese equities and position squaring ahead of a key US inflation print. Healthcare led the turnaround with a gain of 1.7%, driven by buying in CSL after it announced a new plasma collection system to boost immunoglobulin sales. It rose 2.5% Financials were the laggard, hit by NAB trading ex-dividend and l...

The S&P/ASX200 closed nearly 1% lower at 7,051 - but it could have been much worse... As the local market sank by 2% through 7000 in the first hour of trade, last month's near all time high seemed a distant memory. But then beaten down growth stocks were bought including Xero, Iress, REA Group and Tyro. Pendal ended 9% higher after an earnings beat and upbeat outlook. US futures showed a...

The local market took the path of least resistance and traded lower from the get go. Growth stocks are again labouring under elevated bond yields, and tech closed down 3.3%, dragged by Block’s 6.4% loss. Westpac shone, the market rewarding an earnings beat, and closed up 3%. Otherwise the financial sector closed down smalls. Energy was a rare sector in the green (oh the irony) closing up 0.5%. Nov...

It was Fed hangover carnage overnight and a sea of red in the local market from the outset. All 11 categories fell, with tech stocks leading losses, down 4.4%. Macquarie was thumped despite a fairly positive update, a small niggle was the dividend didn’t shoot the lights out. Macquarie down nearly 8% and Financials closed down just over 2%. To find green on screen needed the world’s largest magnif...

The not-hawkish-enough FOMC hike overnight sent a rocket up US equities, and the bulk of that enthusiasm filtered into our local market. The energy complex closed 2% higher thanks to a pop in oil. Tech also rallied 2% as bond yields eased from recent highs. Top sector was gold, closing up 3%. Top of the company pops was beaten-up Imugene, closing over 7% higher after a rough ride. In company...

Sandwiched between the RBA yesterday and the FOMC tonight, there was a flurry of activity until lunchtime, before the market flatlined over the afternoon. Small caps were smashed, down 1.5% by the close. The RBA’s 25bp rate hike was passed straight into the variable mortgage rate by all the major banks, surprising no-one. ANZ didn’t disappoint, and financials closed up 0.6%. Previous market darlin...

The local market took the first rate increase from the RBA since 2010 in its stride, recovering from a mid-afternoon swoon to close with modest losses. Most sectors finished lower with REITs and materials the largest drags with falls of over 1%. Financials, a beneficiary of higher interest rates, managed to recoup its early losses, ending the day down 0.3%. Bank reporting season kicks off tomorrow...

The local market had a rough start to the month, although it could have been worse. Just ask those on Wall Street. All sectors finished in the red, led by companies sensitive to movements in bond yields. Technology shed 4%, mirroring the bloodbath witnessed on the Nasdaq. Real Estate shed 3.8% while consumer discretionary, healthcare and communications all slid more than 1%. Utilities were the rel...

The local market made it two gains on the trot to round off April. Month-end window dressing and earnings optimism helped the S&P/ASX 200 lift to , adding to the big gains on Thursday. Every sector finished higher, led by telecommunications, tech, utilities and staples which rose more than 1%. Telix Pharmaceuticals, Pointsbet Holdings, Nickel Mines and ZIP topped the leader board, bouncin...

The local market jumped from the outset, snapping an ugly three-day losing streak. Materials led the rebound, and the sector added a decent 3.5%. Fortescue lifted its iron ore shipments guidance, and closed a juicy 8.2% higher. Sandfire outperformed, popping 10% on a solid quarterly. AMP was the biggest percentage gainer after it offloaded its infrastructure investing unit, closing well north of 1...

It may have been another bloodbath overnight, but in the local market investors with thick chainmail gloves caught some falling knives. Energy closed up 0.8% and materials up 0.2%. Not so healthy were financials, closing down -1.6%. City Chic got a 6% bump on its upbeat quarterly update, closing at the top of the table. At the other end, Life360 was hammered by 29% as upbeat revenues were rev...

Sell in May and go away. Well it’s not May just yet, but investors must want to get in early! The local market dived from the outset, spurred in part by the China-led rout yesterday. Energy and materials sunk from the open. It was the kind of day that no matter the corporate news, stock prices are down across the board. Bottom of the ladder is EML Payments after a “challenging” update, closed...

Splat! That was an unpleasant end to the week, mirroring the ugly price action on Wall Street overnight. Record highs will have to wait for another day. Finding green on screen was as difficult as finding hen’s teeth with most sectors finishing deep in the red. Materials skidded 3.3% while energy and information technology shed 2.5% apiece. Megaport slumped another 11% after tanking over 20%...

It was another soggy resources day, balanced out by upbeat financials adding over 1%. BHP’s quarterly production miss and soggy guidance sparked a 3% selloff. In contrast, Challenger (up 8%) and Brambles’ (up 9.8%) quarterly updates were well received by the market. A broker nod saw Viva Energy add nearly 5%. Tech had a nasty day, the sector shedding 1.8%. There was a 7% slide in poster child Bloc...

A decent lead from Wall Street made for an upbeat open, but this time it wasn’t about resource stocks. Materials closed down 1.5%, not helped by Rio’s production hiccups and shaky forward guidance. RIO closed down 2.8%. The energy complex also took a breather along with a step down in the oil price. Woodside closed down 0.7% and Santos down 1.08%, despite the latter planning a share buyback. M&amp...

The major miners kicked off a solid start to the holiday-shortened week, subsequently joined by energy and gold names. The big hitters Rio and BHP both closed higher, with a weaker Australian dollar boosting exporters more broadly. It was quite the mixed bag at the top of the ladder. Imugene added 8% on no news, followed by Cleanaway closing up nearly 6%, oil and gold names thereafter featured in...

It was quite the upbeat session despite investors having a firm eye on the upcoming four day long weekend. Materials, energy and gold led the gains throughout the day, while financials took a breather. The Bank of Queensland update revealed decent revenues but the NIM squeeze saw it drop to the bottom of the ladder, closing down over 6%. The March employment report didn’t shoot the lights out, but...

After a less than stellar overnight lead, local investors turned to energy, materials and small caps. Top of the ladder all day was EML Payments on chatter of a private equity bid, but Paladin and AVZ Minerals were late contenders for the top two names. All three closed double-digits higher. The RBNZ put the scalpel away and used the sledgehammer for a 50bp pop in the cash rate to 1.5%. Tonight, t...

It was a case of choose your poison as to why the market closed lower today: a poor US lead, surging bond yields, commodity price drops. There was a range of company news, not all good. Pendal rejected the Perpetual bid on the basis of not being in the interest of shareholders. Iress pulled the pin on divesting its UK mortgage book. Lynas reported record sales in its update, but after a stellar ru...

An early rally fizzled, undermined by deteriorating sentiment across the region, especially in China. The threat posed by prolonged lockdowns in Asia’s largest economy are only just starting to be digested. The materials and energy sectors proved to be the swing factor, moving from gains to losses as futures sank. Fortescue was among the worst performers sliding 3.1%. The banks kept the market afl...

All sectors except real estate, consumer staples and utilities finished lower. Information Technology was hammered, following the weak Nasdaq lead. It skidded 3.4%, outpacing declines of more than 1.3% for energy and consumer discretionary. On the macro front, Westpac’s Bill Evans now sees the RBA hiking in June. The Fed continues to talk tough on inflation. Neither helped long duration names toda...

The local market finished hump day on the soggy side, following a less than ideal lead from Wall Street. The ASX closed down 0.5%, but things could have been worse as the market was down nearly 1% at one point. Perspective is also important - since the March 9 low - the index is up more than 500 points. PolyNovo won today's gold medal for best on ground - reporting record March quarter r...