The COB from ausbiz

The ASX 200 closed down a touch over 2% today with a number of factors contributing to the slide. The local market was influenced by Chinese and Japanese markets, which opened hard and came off abruptly. S&P futures also down after the US Presidential Debate not only failed to deliver anything of value in relation to policy but muddied the waters for investors with regard to acceptance of the...

The injection of positivity the banks got last week from announcement on the relaxation of lending rules continued to drain away today, with financials down 0.4%. Bank of Queensland fell 6.5% after revealing a $175 million provision for impaired loans. The Big Four all took a hit of around 0.7% except WBC, which dropped 1.3%. A sedate day overall as the market gears up for the Trump/Biden debate t...

A flat close overall for the local bourse, which disguised some big sector moves. Talk of a trans-Tasman travel bubble and mooted government support for the travel industry saw the sector on a tear today - Qantas up 6.4%, Flight Centre up 5.8%, Webjet up 6.6% and Helloworld up 3.4%. Real estate benefited from the easing of responsible lending rules for the banks next year and talk of RBA interest...

The easing of responsible lending laws saw the banks back in favour with investors helping the ASX 200 to a 1.5% gain. Westpac was also helped by the settlement of its anti-money laundering case with Austrac - despite the $1.3 billion bill being the biggest fine in Australian corporate history. It led the way with a 7.4% surge, followed by NAB (up 6.86%), ANZ (up 6.3%) and CBA (up 3%). Miners were...

After a strong session yesterday where the ASX recouped most of its early week losses from Monday and Tuesday it was Fed Chairman Jerome Powell who poured cold water on the stock revival before it began reiterating the need for more stimulus to stabilise a weakened global economy. A sharp increase in daily infection rates of COVID-19 across Britain and Europe has provided markets with the cha...

The ASX 200 rebounded today to close up 2.4% - the largest daily gain in around seven weeks. Financials had a great day while gold miners took a hit. The market was helped by a strong lead-in from Wall St overnight and exuberance around borders re-opening but Scutty reckons it was the comments from Westpac Chief Economist, Bill Evans, this afternoon that really kicked things along. Bill expec...

The ASX 200 closed down 0.7% in a day that could have been worse, given the extent of the sell off in the US and Europe overnight on fears of the worsening European Covid-19 situation. Tech was back in favour, as was healthcare, consumer discretionary and consumer staples, while cyclicals were hit hard. RBA Deputy Governor, Guy Debelle, reiterated today that the recovery is going to be drawn out,...

The ASX200 edged closer to key support levels today to close down 0.7%. Miners, tech and banks were the biggest losers with energy the star performer. Whitehaven Coal jumped 10% after UBS upgrade its outlook for the beleaguered miner. Bit of a drama unfolding in the US this afternoon, with Founder and CEO of electric car "maker", Nikola, Trevor Milton, resigning as the company comes unde...

After jumping above 5,900 at the open, the ASX 200 headed south to close at 0.3%. Following the tech sell off on Wall St overnight, the Aussie WAAAX stocks held up pretty well, closing flat or higher - WYC down 0.04%, APT up 2.65%, APX up 0.86%, Altium up 0.6% and Xero up 1.6%. A rough day for Qantas boss, Alan Joyce, who saw his pay fall to a mere $1.7 million. Still, nothing to be sneezed at, bu...

Don't fight the Fed! The local bourse reversed yesterday's gains today, with the ASX 200 closing down 1.2%. Tech took a hit, as did many of the key cyclicals. Jerome Powell's comments that interest rates would remain at zero until at least 2023 with a long and choppy road to recovery ahead put the pressure squarely back on Congress to fund the recovery. S&P futures are down around 1% as the st...

Like Pavlov's Dog, the market is salivating at the prospect of more dovish commentary from the US Federal Reserve, closing up 1%. Gains were led by the tech sector following similar moves on Wall St last night, while banks continued to lag. S&P futures are up ahead of the Fed's policy decision at 4am AEST tomorrow. Our top three VODs today are: Bull market ready to take the next leg-up Th...

Techs were on a tear in the US overnight but the local market didn't share the enthusiasm - up initially but closing down 0.1%. The risk-off sentiment pushed up the gold miners while the dollar was also up. S&P futures point to a positive open on Wall St tonight... Our top three VODs are: Revenue isn't everything The PM is confusing gas with hot air Lose the rose-coloured glasses when looking...

The miners drove the market today, with Rio Tinto and BHP pushing the ASX 200 up 0.7%, but still well under the 6,000 mark. This market has an itchy trigger finger when it comes to vaccine news and the statement over the weekend from AstraZeneca that it would resume trials was all investors needed to hear. A big hit to Cleanaway with news emerging of a toxic culture with CEO Vik Bhansal being inve...

A quiet finish to a fairly flat week with the Top 200 closing down 0.83%. Healthcare and real estate were the few bright spots. Rio Tinto CEO Jean Sebastien-Jacques was forced to fall on his sword, but that might not be the end of it. In an interview with ausbiz today, lawyer at the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, James Fitzgerald, says the company could be in contempt of pa...

After starting the day with a healthy kick along from our American cousins buying the dip, the local market lost a bit of enthusiasm in the afternoon session and closed up 0.4%. Not surprisingly, tech stocks led the gainers with gold miners also up. Myer was down 15% after reporting a $172 million full-year loss, while Sigma Healthcare was up 2% after reporting a half-year profit of $10.6 million....

A grey and dreary old day in Sydney today, which was reflected in the market, with the Top 200 down 2%. It was red across the board, as the local market followed the overnight sell off in the US. Is the tech bubble about to burst? The energy sector led the losers today, with tech, financials and consumer discretionary also hit hard. Out-of-session US futures indicate Wall St will be up tonigh...

It was all systems go for the local bourse, with the Top 200 closing up 0.89% and the S&P/ASX200 closing above the 6000 mark as we await US markets coming back online post-Labor Day. All sectors gained, with the exception of consumer staples, led by healthcare. Financials rallied hard for a second day, helped by the release of slightly better than expected payrolls data. Spoos are current...

After a choppy but lacklustre day due to the US Labor Day holiday, the Top 200 closed up 0.23%. The banks (steepening of global yield curves), miners (iron ore prices up) and CSL (vaccine deal) were again in lockstep, leading the charge, while consumer staples led the losers. US out-of-session futures point to a soft start in Wall St tonight. Our top three VODs today are: IOOF CEO: "A once in a ge...

Wall Street came back to Earth with a 800 point thud as the Dow Jones finished the session 2.78% lower. Unsurprisingly the ASX followed suit down 3% to close out the the first week of September as investors assess reporting season against a backdrop of ongoing state border tension. Balancing the economic national interest versus state self interest is a tough business.   Our top thr...

More buyers than sellers today in a solid session after another record breaking night on Wall St. The ASX200 closed up 0.8%. Cyclicals outperformed with banks, consumer discretionary and REITS leading the charge higher. Our top three VODs today are: Homewares retailers ride the lockdown decorating wave The next dividend is an each way bet Professional quality video - straight from your smartp...

The ASX200 bounced back today to recover yesterday's losses, despite a worse than expected quarterly GDP figure and the country now officially in its first recession in 30 years. Just imagine the situation we'd be in without JobKeeper and JobSeeker! Banks and miners were back in the green, as were the telcos, real estate and supermarkets. IOOF took a 15% hit after resuming trading following i...

The ASX200 dropped 1.77% today to erase the 2.2% gains from August. Financial and miners lead the losers with Afterpay down 8.04% on news that PayPal would be entering the buy-now-pay later space. Not surprisingly the RBA held the cash rate at 0.25% today, with GDP out tomorrow... Our top three VODs today are: REX Deputy Chairman: We were on our knees but will recover quickly when borders ope...

Bit of a dip for the local bourse to finish what was another strong month (up 2.2%) and the fifth successive month of growth. Certainly a V-shaped recovery for the ASX. Homewares retailer, Temple & Webster, which reported today, also did well out of the lockdowns with an increased NPAT of 265%! The stock closed up 17.4% as a result. Spoos up 0.3%, pointing to a positive open for Wall St t...

The market got smoked today - closing down 0.9%. CSL and the miners were down around 1.5% and gold also took a hit. The banks managed to offset some of the losses, benefiting from J Powell's Jackson Hole speech last night which sparked a rise in longer dated bond yields. The AUD also benefited from more positivity around the US economy, crossing the 73 cent mark for the first time in two...

Subdued day on the markets as investors await tonight's speech from Fed Chair Jerome Powell in which he is expected to lay out a change in policy direction on inflation. On the reporting front, Zip reduced its net loss to $20 million, Nine Entertainment made a loss of $590 million and Flight Centre was in the red to the tune of $510 million. Check our our interviews with CEOs of all three companie...