Christmas has come early for the bank’s shareholders with the decision to slightly increase the 2024 dividend – despite a single-digit decline in the net profit and cash earnings.
Beating the market benchmark is never easy, with 72 per cent of Australian actively managed global equity general funds trailing the S&P World Index in the six months to June 30, 2024. Domestic equity funds performed slightly better, albeit against a significantly lower bar set by the S&P/ASX 200 Index.
ASX closes 0.4% lower: gold miners out-performing
RBA halts sell off, record trade surplus, gold rallies
The S&P/ASX200 (ASX: XJO) staged a mid-session recovery finishing down just 0.4% after being as far as 1% lower.
The selloff was broad-based in terms of sectors with eight of the 11 sectors finishing in the red, but by and large it was focused on the tech sector which fell 3%.
This followed a selloff in the likes of Facebook and Apple overnight, with ASX-listed tech facing a bigger problem.
Whilst global tech is seen as ‘expensive’ by many, Aussie tech tends to trade on even higher multiples almost solely due to the lack of other growth options available domestically, hence the likes of Appen (ASX: APX), down 5%, tend to sell off even more heavily when sentiment turns.
It remains a ‘cyclical’ versus technology story with the energy sector continuing to rally, Santos (ASX: STO) up 2.5%, as the oil price hit another three year high after OPEC+ announced an uninspiring production increase.
Little change in trade, job ads fall, Delta impact to be ‘temporary’
The gold price rallied on a weakening AUD despite the commodity stagnated for several months.
Long seen as an inflation hedge, it is more suited as a hedge against volatility.
Australia achieved another record trade surplus which hit $15 billion in August overcoming a precipitous fall in the price of iron ore.
Luckily, Australia’s exports of coal, gas and wheat were enough to offset the weakness.
Similarly, imports fell likely due to the difficultly faced by many businesses in ordering and taking delivery of stock.
The RBA announced that rates would remain on hold, reiterating their previous position, with no change to the recent tapering of bond purchases.
The Governor highlighted the negative hit to growth in the September quarter but remains confident of a bounce back in December whilst also predicting we will recover lost ground by the second half of next year.
Shares in Bega Cheese (ASX: BGA) were 1.3% higher after an analyst suggested they should merge with Fonterra in an effort to extract synergies and effectively buy back their naming rights.
Dip buyers emerge, economy improving, Facebook in damage control
The US market saw another day of dip buying with the technology sector leading the way once again, the Nasdaq adding 1.7%.
The gains were broad based following a positive reading on the services sector PMI, which printed at 61.9 points suggesting that the economy is in a strong position despite the Delta outbreak.
The big names were central to the recovery, NVIDIA (NYSE: NVDA) up 4% and Netflix (NYSE: NFLX) close to 6%, whilst Facebook (NYSE: FB) recovered some lost ground gaining 2.5% as the whistle-blower’s testimony continues.
The shutdown of the site was fixed on Tuesday however this previous employee is highlighting inappropriate actions by management in the pursuit of profit.
Despite all the headlines the tech sector is down just 5.4% from its high.
