The COB from ausbiz

After another record night for the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ, which unfortunately failed to translate to gains for the local market. The top 200 closed down 0.6% with banks leading the losers. Healthcare and real estate sectors finished in the green. Afterpay was down 2% after its tear yesterday - maybe some caution ahead of tomorrow's results - while Zip surged 27% to a new high on news of a dea...

Solid finish for the local bourse - the top 200 was up the best part of half a percent. S&P 500 futures up around 0.4%, pointing to a strong open for Wall St tonight. Check out Scutty's view on spoos below. Sadly, Qantas announced another 2,500 jobs would go, which was obviously seen as a positive for the company's prospects with the share price closing up 2.4%. Meanwhile, the Afterpay juggern...

A choppy day for the ASX200, which finally closed 0.3% in the green. Data from Morgan Stanley today re-affirmed the ASX's status as the global laggard in terms of both AUD and USD returns, as a function of the domination of the big four banks. A impressive FY20 result for Fortescue Metals (FMG), with net profit up 49% to $4.74 billion. A new week, a new record high for Afterpay, after announc...

A underwhelming end to the week for the ASX 200, despite a good lead in from Wall St, Asian markets in the green and strong results from Suncorp. Webjet rebounded after taking a hit yesterday while IEL and CSL were down after strong showings earlier in the week. Our top three VODs today are: SUN CEO: "The bank has got great opportunities" Resilience and sustainability are the two buzzwords this ea...

The ASX200 closed down 0.8% today after flirting with the 6,200 level yesterday. Afterpay struck yet another record high of $82 following upgraded guidance. Wesfarmers' full-year NPAT was up 8.2% to $2.1 billion but shares closed down in light of the the half billion dollar writedown of its Target stores. Nevertheless, as CEO Rob Scott told us today, he's got a lot dry powder to play wit...

A solid day on the local bourse with the Top200 closing up 0.85% and the ASX200 nudging the 6,200 level. Wisetech Global was the star today - up 34% after net profit surged almost 200%! After the S&P500 hit an all-time high last night, it's looking like Wall St is in the mood for another tear, with out of session futures up 0.2%. Another huge day of results tomorrow with QAN, WES, CCL, FLT and...

Tech stocks followed Wall St's lead today, pushing up the ASX200 by 0.8% at the close. Monadelphous (MND) surged 19% after reporting a 28% drop in NPAT, which was put down to a relief rally. Cochlear (COH) was also up despite a $239 million loss, with investors taking the view that the worst was behind the company now that the US patent case is out of the way. You can watch our interview with CEO...

No rhyme or reason to the market today with the ASX200 closing down 0.81%. Chinese markets were up this afternoon but the Nikkei was down 0.8% thanks to worse than expected GDP numbers. JB Hi-Fi was the star performer results-wise today, with profit up 21% to just over $300 million thanks to all the big screen tellys and other goodies that Australians bought during the lockdown, not to mention ear...

A solid but unspectacular close to a choppy week. The ASX200 flirted with the 6,200 level before closing up 0.6% at 6,126. The market seems to be in a holding pattern with uncertainty abounding as we head into peak reporting season next week. The RBA's Phil Lowe made it clear today that the RBA would be keeping its powder dry for the time being, despite some commentators saying that QE should be m...

After the S&P500 nudging record highs last night and positivity in Asian markets today, the local ASX200 index closed down 0.7% thanks largely to a rotation out of financials. The banks were hosed - CBA down 2.6%, ANZ down 1.6%, NAB down 1.5% and WBC down 1.3%. A few misses on the reporting season front also dragged the market down, particularly Telstra following a 14% drop in FY20 net profit...

The ASX200 came home strongly after a weak lead in from Wall St but still closed down 0.11%. Reporting season is in full swing with Comm Bank and Seek out today with Australia's biggest bank reporting a cash profit of $7.3 billion and Australia's biggest job site down more than 8% after a FY loss of $111.7 million. Live on ausbiz, CBA CEO Matt Comyn told Kochie that the economic contraction had no...

After a morning surge of over 1%, the ASX200 lost momentum this afternoon to close up just 0.5%. The positive atmosphere continued for the discretionary retailers who can't seem to put a foot wrong. James Hardie closed up 5.9% on news of a rise in full-year profit, despite Q1 net profit diving 89%. CBA reports first thing tomorrow. Don't miss Kochie's interview with CEO, Matt Comyn, live at 2...

The Australian market open the strongly week rising 1.9% following the latest job support measures announced in the United States by President Donald Trump over the weekend.   With holidays in Japan and Singapore, Seoul's KOSPI and the Shanghai Composite were also in positive territory while Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped. Will investors be pleasantly surprised this week as more earnings n...

Trump's threats to shut out TikTok and WeChat seem to have soured sentiment across the region with the Shenzen composite down over 2.5%. The RBA SOMP again flagged a protracted recovery which added to the gloomy atmosphere. The ASX200 closed down 0.62% with big days for FLT (up 6.3%), CTD (up 6.4%), CLW (up 5%) and SGR (up 4.5%). US out-of session futures are also down, pointing to a soft sta...

Today's market closed up 0.6% after similarly size gains on Wall St last night. The miners led the charge thanks to stronger iron ore, oil and gold prices with BHP up 4.9%. Out of session futures point to a fairly flat open tonight, with Uber the big name reporting. Our top three VODs today are: Marcus Padley: This is a "very dangerous" reporting season Resmed CEO: Q4 net profit up 84% but "it wil...

The local bourse was down 0.6% today, with the higher Aussie dollar negatively impacting offshore earners, US fiscal negotiations dragging on and Chinese PMI data coming in below expectations. Banks and healthcare were the big losers while the materials sector was the one bright spark. Gold miners were helped by a record price of US$2,030 an ounce for the yellow metal last night. Splitit jump...

Another Turnaround Tuesday with the techs following the NASDAQ's lead - the IT sector was up 3.2% for the day, led by BNPLs with the ASX200 closing up 1.9%. Strangely, the cyclicals were also up. Odd given the news out of Melbourne yesterday. Will be interesting to see if the market can continue to ignore bad news. Our top three VODs today are: Logic does not always apply in Washington says AGF In...

The bank holiday and COVID fears kept the market subdued today with the ASX200 finishing flat. Gold miners and healthcare continued to outperform with CSL up around 2.6%. The tightening of lockdowns in Victoria reflected unfavourably on the banks - ANZ down 4.1%, CBA down 1.8%, NAB down 4.1% and WBC down 3.5%. Our top three VODs today are: Number one wish from the government, stability. Reporting...

A fourth consecutive month of gains for the ASX despite today's 2% drop for the ASX200. A broad based slide was led by energy, financials and materials with no real gainers to speak of. It was the usual month-end sell off coinciding with the release of troubling US economic data. Out of session US futures point to a soft open on Wall St tonight. Our top three VODs of the day are: CEO Chat: Bo...

Very much the same old message from the FOMC last night with Chairman J Powell remaining dovish in tone. And in response... markets rallied. The ASX closed up around 0.7% with tech and telcos leading the way. Big night ahead in the US with Facebook, Apple and Google all reporting after their tongue lashings from Capitol Hill's antitrust committee. Our top three VODs today are: Marley Spoon in...

The ASX followed Wall St's soft lead with caution gripping the market ahead of a number of risk events. The US negotiations on the next stimulus support package are in progress and the big techs, Apple, Google and Facebook report tomorrow. At home, the banks and insurers got a boost from APRA easing of dividend restrictions and consumer staples were up. Tech and miners were hosed....Rio's result a...

It was turnaround Tuesday with a reversal of sentiment in the gold and the USD helping to drive down the market this afternoon after a strong open. The materials sector led the gains thanks to the iron ore miners - FMG (up 3.18%), BHP (up 1.7%) and RIO (up 1.2%). Energy led the falls, followed by consumer cyclicals and healthcare. Gold miners also erased most of yesterday's gains. Our top thr...

The yellow metal hit a record high of US$1,943.92 an ounce today. Miners Saracen (up 5.2%), Ramelius (up 3.6%), Newcrest (up 4.9%), Northern Star (up 4.1%), Saracen all had big days as a result. Silver is also getting in on the party - up 6% today. Overall, a fairly subdued day's trade, with the ASX closing up 0.3% with geopolitical tensions and rising COVID cases souring risk appetites. Our top t...

The ASX followed the soft lead in from Wall St, which was down on increased US/China tensions and news of increased jobless claims. Utilities were the big gainers with the tech sector leading the losers. The Aussie dollar has dipped slightly to under US70 cents. Chinese markets dropped today after China ordered the closure of the US Chengdu consulate. There are no winners in this game... Our top t...

Ramped up China/US tensions and US fiscal negotiations seemed to keep a lid on the market today - the ASX200 closed up 0.3% after trading in a tight range all day. The Aussie dollar remains comfortable above the 70 cent mark, currently buying around US71.5 cents. A sobering economic and fiscal update from the Treasurer today, with real GDP forecast to drop 3.75% this year and monster deficits ahea...