BHP, Woolies Highlight Huge Earnings Week
Peak earnings reporting this week as the Australian December half earnings results season sees its busiest week.
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Oil Shrugs Off Rising US Production To Find Four-Month High
Global oil futures rose sharply last week to hit four-month highs on paradoxical signs of both global supply tightness, and expectations for more US production from the still growing fracking sector.
Read MoreGold, Palladium Lead Precious Metals Higher
Gold futures had their highest finish in two weeks Friday, as progress as US-China trade negotiations continued, overshadowing strength in the dollar and a pick up in global share markets, especially in Europe and the US.
Read MoreVale Fire More Fuel For Iron Ore Miners
Another problem for global iron ore markets and Vale, the embattled Brazilian giant with a fire at the big Malaysian blending and transfer operation on Friday set to close the facility for 10 to 15 days, meaning Chinese mills will be without Brazilian ore for two weeks.
Read MoreGlobal Shares End Week Higher On Trade Hopes
Global share markets rose over the last week helped by further progress on US/China trade talks, the US averting a renewed partial government shutdown along with more OK but not brilliant 4th quarter earnings results.
Read MoreDiary: Oz Earnings, Fed & RBA Minutes, US “Emergency”
It should be a quieter week globally, though, with Brexit still unresolved and increasingly intractable and the US government about to freeze in the midst of a hail of legal activity over Donald Trump’s attempts to fund his wall by a calling a state of emergency, anything can happen.
Read MoreASX Winners & Losers Over The Week
AMP and Bendigo & Adelaide Bank were sold off after reporting weaker results, AMP fell 10.7%, CSL shares fell 4.9%, but resource stocks mostly did better. South32 rose 4.7% to $3.81 while Northern Star Resources climbed 15.5%.
Read MoreWalmart, Berkshire Set To Close Out US Reporting Season
The US December quarter earnings season is now in its final stretch with just 50 companies from the S&P 500 index down to release results this week.
Read MoreChinese Inflation Evaporates In January
More evidence that the pace of economic activity in China – especially in manufacturing – is weakening.
Read MoreBuffett Goes To Back To The Future
Berkshire Hathaway’s latest regulatory filing suggests that Warren Buffett has gone all traditional, seemingly looking for value in old-line stocks and cutting his stake in Apple.
Read MoreChina’s Commodity Consumption Robust Amid Trade Gloom
The Lunar New Year holiday has had its usual distorting impact on Chinese trade data, especially commodity imports in January. Iron ore imports picked up, while LNG imports surged, hitting an all-time high last month.
Read MoreTreasury Wine Shareholders Toast Higher Dividend
Australia’s biggest wine group, Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) is rewarding shareholders with a 20% higher dividend after revealing a 17% rise in interim net profit yesterday.
Read MoreWoodside Ups Payout On Higher Energy Prices
As expected Woodside Energy’s annual profit has jumped by more than a quarter as it benefited from higher oil and LNG prices (in particular) and higher production.
Read MorePlenty Of Juice At Breville Group
Shares in appliance maker and distributor Breville Group jumped more than 17% yesterday after the company revealed a very solid performance for the six months to the end of December and gave shareholders a nice boost.
Read MoreNo Dividend Despite Strong Recovery At Newcrest
While South32 was rewarding shareholders with higher dividends, no such joy for shareholders in the country’s biggest gold miners, Newcrest which more than doubled its first-half profit thanks to the continuing recovery at its Cadia gold and copper mine in NSW.
Read MoreSuncorp Struggles Against Multiple Headwinds
Shareholders in Brisbane-based insurer and bank, Suncorp face a tough year as the company’s profits have been hit by the surge in natural disaster claims and the weak home lending and consumer finance markets.
Read MoreNBN Drains Telstra Dividend
The total size of Telstra’s interim dividend has now almost halved in two years thanks to rising levels of competition in mobiles and the inroads the NBN is making.
Read MoreIllawarra Coal Recovery Fuels South32 Result
South32 will reward shareholders with a special dividend on top of the normal interim payment after reporting a $US635 million ($895.6 million) first-half profit.
Read MoreLunar Holiday Blurs China Trade Picture
On the face of it China’s January trade performance was better than expected but once again it has been the timing of the Lunar New Year holidays in February that has distorted the figures.
Read MoreAMP Dividend Slashed Following Horror Year
AMP has slashed its final dividend to 4 cents a share in the wake of the worst year in its financial history for more than a decade as the toll of the disclosures from the Hayne Royal Commission hit home.
Read MoreHigh Expectations Hurt CSL
Investors have been left cold despite CSL reporting an interim net profit of $US1.2 billion ($A1.7 billion), a higher dividend and a lift in full-year guidance.
Read MorePact Plunges Again On New Writedown
Challenger did it, Super Retail Group did and so has Melbourne based packing operator, Pact Group has done – separating bad news about trading issues from actual results.
Read MoreGold Shorts: Pogo Deal Lifts Northern Star, Evolution Loses Shine
Two contrasting results from two of the country’s major medium level gold miners – Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining.
Read MoreBeach Energy Surfs Energy Prices To Bumper Result
Kerry Stokes’ 25% owned oil and gas arm, Beach Energy’s profits and revenues surged in the six months to December as it continued to benefit from the purchase of Lattice Energy from Origin Energy in late 2017 and the brief surge in prices in the last quarter.
Read MoreBorghetti Departs Virgin Australia On A High
Virgin Australia CEO, John Borghetti is leaving the airline in style – its best six months financial performance in over a decade.
Read MoreRBNZ Adopts Similar Stance To The RBA On Rates
The Reserve Bank of NZ has left its key Official Cash Rate (OCR) steady at 1.75% and says it expects to maintain this level for at least the next two years.
Read MoreIron Ore Cools As Chinese Buyers Retreat
Global iron ore prices took a breather on Tuesday with the Metal Bulletin 62% index price falling back to around $US87.
Read MoreHome Lending Data Continues On A Downtrend Trend
As expected home lending fell sharply in December to be down sharply for 2018 as a whole as loans for apartments and units fell steeply followed loans for owner-occupiers.
Read MoreChallenger Meets Downgraded Expectations
A very different market reaction today to Challenger’s confirmation of a weak net profit of just $6.1 million in the December half, compared to the January 23 downgrade and reworked guidance when they plunged 17%.
Read MoreSuper Retail Results Marred By Underpayments Scandal
Well, that sort of went over like a lead balloon. What looks like to have been an attempt by Super Retail group to spin the bad news of a $34 million underpayment with staff with most of the interim financial results yesterday flopped, judging by the way the shares traded through the session.
Read MoreMacquarie Eyes Fourth Straight Record Result
Macquarie Group sees annual profit jumping 15% to record levels when the books are ruled off for the 2018-19 year on March 31.
Read MoreWestConnex Tolls On Transurban Results
Securities in toll road giant, Transurban were uneasy yesterday after it reported a lower interim profit on higher revenues, a higher distribution and reaffirmed full-year guidance.
Read MoreNAB Economists Shift View On Rates
Despite a small improvement in business conditions in January after December’s sharp fall and a small improvement in business confidence, the National Australia Bank has had significant change of heart and is now forecasting that the Reserve Bank will leave rates on hold for a long time – well into next decade – but with a rate cut not out of the question.
Read MoreIron Ore Continues Surge As China Returns
Shares in BHP, Rio Tinto, and Fortescue Metals group should continue running higher today with global iron ore prices hitting two-year highs in Asian trading yesterday after Chinese buyers returned to the market after last week’s holiday break.
Read MoreBendigo Bemoans RC As H1 Cash Earnings Slip
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank disappointed the market yesterday with a softer than expected first-half profit, thanks to weak revenues and higher costs.
Read MoreInvestors Turn Down Resilient JB Hi-Fi
Are the good times over for JB Hi-Fi, Australasia’s biggest electronics and whitegoods group? Investors may be starting to think so judging by the performance of the shares in the wake of yesterday’s interim profit release.
Read MoreCurrency Tailwinds Rescue Amcor Result
The weaker Aussie dollar against the greenback has come to the aid of shareholders in packaging giant, Amcor and softened the blow from what was a weakish first-half performance.
Read MoreAV Jennings Confirms Weak H1
As it suggested in a warning in December, developer and home builder, AV Jennings has reported a sharp slide in first-half earnings, cut its interim dividend in half, but expressed confidence it will do better in the second half of the 2018-19 financial year,
Read MoreOffice Lifts GPT Profit Higher
Property investor and manager, GPT Group has lifted its forecast returns a touch for the 2019 financial year (ending December 31) after reporting a solid set of results for the year to last December.
Read MoreStronger USD Weighs On Commodities
Excluding iron ore, a stronger US dollar is putting downward pressures on commodity prices led by oil prices which were 4.6% lower for the week, the largest weekly loss since the week ended December 21.
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