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.
China sniffles hurt market. Tech weakens Wall Street, Dow holds up.
China sniffles hurt market
The Australian share market was weighed down on Tuesday by concerns that COVID-19 lockdowns have hurt economic growth in China, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index finished down 20.1 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 7,128.8, while the broader S&P/ASX All Ordinaries closed 0.35 per cent, or 25.7 points, lower to 7,373.2.
Commonwealth Bank gained 59 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $105.09; NAB was up 31 cents, or 1 per cent, to $31.09; Westpac lifted 13 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $23.54; and ANZ added 6 cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $25.37.
The heavyweight miners had a mixed day, with Rio Tinto putting on 97 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $110.47 and Fortescue Metals gaining 6 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $20.77, while BHP was down 3 cents at $47.80.
The best price action was in the coal stocks, which continued their remarkable renaissance, with New Hope adding 9 cents, or 2.3 per cent, to $4.05, Whitehaven Coal up another 5 cents to $5.20, and Yancoal up 14 cents, or 2.4 per cent, to a record high of $5.97. New Hope and Whitehaven are at three-year highs.
Agricultural chemical company Nufarm fell 85 cents, or 14.6 per cent, to $14.99 after Japanese chemical giant Sumitomo sold its 15.9 per cent stake in the company on Monday, 12 years after buying into it.
Tech turns down
Tech stocks were big sliders, with the official sector index falling per cent. Afterpay owner Block slid $9.05, or 7.2 per cent, to $115.56 and fellow buy-now, pay-later operator Sezzle slumped 6 cents, or 10.5 per cent, to a three-year low of 51 cents.
However, Kiwi-based church donation software specialist Pushpay surged 17 cents, or 15.6 per cent, to $1.295 after telling the market it was exploring multiple takeover offers.
Meanwhile, Tabcorp spin-off The Lottery Corporation made its debut on the ASX under the stock code TLC, with its shares closing at $4.70.
With the keno and lottery businesses stripped out of Tabcorp, the stock fell $4.285, or 83 per cent, to $1.055, to reflect the schism.
Good Drinks Australia rose 5 cents, or 6.7 per cent, to 80 cents, after the company, which owns Perth brewer Gage Roads, signed a “transformative” deal to exclusively distribute in Australia the beers of American brewing giant Molson Coors, including Miller Genuine Draft and Coors.
Tech weakens Wall Street, Dow holds up
Weaker-then-expected US economic data hit the US market, with the broad S&P 500 index ending 32.3 points, or 0.8 per cent, lower at 3,941.5, while the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 48.4 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 31,928.6.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 270.8 points, or 2.3 per cent, to 11,264.4 after an earnings warning from Snapchat’s parent company.
Snap said the macroeconomic environment has deteriorated further and faster than anticipated.” Its shares fell 40 per cent and put the shivers through the rest of the big social media names.
Meta Platforms, owner of Facebook and Instagram, fell nearly 8 per cent while Pinterest plunged more than 20 per cent, Twitter slid 5 per cent and Alphabet, the parent company of YouTube and Google, also dropped 5 per cent.
The Australian dollar is buying 71.1 US cents this morning.
