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.
Local market down ahead of RBA meeting, energy, Tabcorp standout
The local market couldn’t shake off a weak global lead, opening the first week of June with a 0.5 per cent fall.
It was a market full of lowlights, with the industrials, technology and materials sectors all falling by more than 1 per cent, dragged down by previously popular growth names including Tyro (ASX:TYR) and Hub24 (ASX:HUB) which fell 8.4 and 3.0 per cent respectively.
Once again, the highlights are coming from the energy sector, which gained 2.1 per cent, with Cooper Energy (ASX:COE) a standout, jumping 7.4 per cent.
The company revised production and sales volume towards the higher end of previous guidance and now expected as much as a 30 per cent jump in earnings for the financial year given surging wholesale gas prices.
Shares in Link (ASX:LNK) continue to trade at a 20 per cent discount to their takeover off from UK leader Dye & Durham, with the competition regulator placing more pressure on the share price after delaying the release of their decision on the transaction.
Magellan, Platinum out of the index, FUM falls, Tabcorp settles suit, NAB launches new hybrid
Magellan (ASX:MFG) fell another 13.9 per cent on Monday, with many pointing to the marginal fall in assets under management of $3.6 billion, taking the total to $65 billion at the end of May. However, they were actually cut from the S&P/ASX 100 benchmark on Friday afternoon which may well have caused index managers to bring forward their sale of the business. It was a similar story for Platinum (ASX:PTM) which fell 2.8 per cent after being cut from the S&P/ASX 200 and nearing small company status.
Tabcorp (ASX:TAH) was the standout, with the now separated gambling group rallying 5.3 per cent on news that had settled a law suit with the Queensland government, agreeing to pay $150 million to the state’s racing body.
The suit related to the underpayment of taxes charged on gambling dollars, but resulted in the state bringing the conditions of TAH into line with those of other online-only groups, allowing a level playing field.
The National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) has launched a $1 billion capital note, or hybrid, priced between 3.15 and 3.35 per cent with no less than nine brokers on the deal.
US market pares gains despite China recovery, solar stocks surge
All three US benchmarks rallied strongly but pared gains to close the session with the Nasdaq outperforming, gaining 0.4 per cent.
The S&P 500 gained 0.3 per cent and the Dow Jones 0.1 per cent as nearly all 30 of the Dow’s components finished higher.
COVID-19 cases in China continued to fall, offering hope for a global economic recovery while DiDi Global (NYSE:DID) jumped 24 per cent after the Chinese Government confirmed they would be finishing their ‘security’ checks spurring hope that regulation pressures would ease on tech giants.
Solar companies including SolarEdge (NYSESEDH) and SunPower (NYSE:SPWR) all gained after President Biden would not impose any new tariffs on imports of solar panels for at least two years.
Shares in Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) remain flat as Elon Musk negotiates for a better price and accuses the board of refusing to provide information on the number of fake accounts on the platform.
Amazon (NYSE:AMZN) gained more than 1 per cent after completing their 20 to 1 stock split overnight.
