BHP results ahead, Wall Street closed, ASX set to rise
staff reporter
Updated ,first published
The Australian share market has made a solid start to the session, with BHP bouncing after strong half-year results.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 38.4 points, or 0.4 per cent, at the open, while six of 11 industrial sectors were in positive territory, led by materials.
BHP rose 5.4 percent after it reported half-year profit rose 28 percent to $5.64 billion ($8 billion), making copper the mining giant’s biggest gainer. Other heavyweights Rio Tinto (up 0.4%) and Fortescue (up 0.7%) rose in early trade, while gold miners were mixed; Northern Star was down 0.4% and Evolution Mining was down 0.1%. Silver major South32 rose 2.3 percent.
Judo Bank was up 7 per cent in early trading after profits rose to $59.9 million in the December half as it continued to expand business lending; This was a 46 percent increase compared to the same period the previous year. While gross loans increased by 15 percent to 13.4 billion dollars, return on equity increased from 5.5 percent in the June half to 6.9 percent. The big four banks were marginally higher in early trade; Commonwealth Bank added 0.2 per cent, ANZ Bank added 0.2 per cent, National Australia Bank added 0.1 per cent and Westpac added 0.3 per cent.
The venture capital arm of online recruitment company Seek has begun selling its stake in billion-dollar HR start-up Employment Hero, just weeks after the two companies settled a bitter antitrust dispute.
That relationship soured last July when Seek cut off Employment Hero’s access to its platform, claiming the company was misusing its data to poach job seekers. Employment Hero sued, alleging anticompetitive conduct, but unexpectedly dropped the lawsuit in January and acknowledged that Seek’s actions were not intended to reduce competition.
The disposal was announced alongside Seek’s half-year results, which showed net income up 11 per cent to $601 million, while adjusted profits rose 35 per cent to $104 million. Search shares were 1.6 percent higher. Technology stocks fell to continue their recent ups and downs. WiseTech fell 5 percent, Xero lost 2.8 percent and NextDC fell 1.7 percent.
Energy stocks fell despite the rise in oil prices. Woodside Energy lost 0.1 percent while Yancoal fell 0.2 percent. Santos was 0.6 percent lower. On Tuesday morning, a Federal Court lawsuit filed by an activist shareholder group accusing oil and gas producer Santos of making misleading claims about “clean energy” was dismissed.
The ASX-listed HCW Healthscope landlord said it had not yet seen details of the recently announced not-for-profit offering but remained focused on “proactively advancing the resolution of the Healthscope situation”.
In its half-year results this morning, the property group said it could not give guidance on future earnings or resume distributions to investors until the Healthscope situation is resolved. HCW’s share price has halved in the last two years as Healthscope heads towards financial collapse. HCW shares were up 3 percent in early trading.
Baby Bunting was up 4.6 percent at the opening, after posting 6.7 percent growth in total sales and comparable 4.7 percent growth in store sales, and a 124 basis point increase in gross margin to 41 percent, driven by specialty and private label brands that now account for nearly half of its total sales.
The baby products retailer expects to complete six store renovations in the second half of the fiscal year and plans to open two new large-format stores.
Loss-making gourmet food maker Maggie Beer Holdings has signaled it plans to sell its sidecar business, which it bought five years ago for $40 million.
The eponymous premium food company said in a trading update ahead of its half-year results that it had accelerated a strategic review of its Hamper & Gifts Australia business following “a number of unsolicited and non-binding approaches from external parties”.
The Maggie Beer Holdings share price remained unchanged at 7.7¢ after markets opened this morning.
The Australian dollar was trading at US70.72¢ at 10am AEDT.
Stocks and bonds made small moves overnight as holiday trading turned muted after Friday’s positive U.S. inflation data strengthened expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year.
While S&P 500 futures were flat, Europe’s Stoxx 600 index rose 0.2 percent.
Overnight, trading volumes were thin as the United States celebrated the Presidents Day holiday and markets in mainland China were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. Still, the path of US interest rates remains in focus following slower-than-expected US inflation data as investors fully priced in the Fed’s rate cut in July and there is a strong possibility of a move in June.
Investors will watch ADP private employment numbers on Tuesday and minutes from the Fed’s January meeting on Wednesday for a fresh read on the economy.
On the other hand, gold fell below $5,000 per ounce as traders took profits from gains made in the previous session.
Bitcoin fell 1.4 percent to $67,849 after posting its fourth consecutive weekly loss, leaving the cryptocurrency struggling to find clear direction after its weekend rally fizzled out.
via Bloomberg
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