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.
Sunny days continue for local market
Australian shares closed stronger on Thursday, boosted by strong gains in the financial and information technology sectors. The optimistic mood was widespread, with ten out of 11 sectoral indices gaining over the day.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 ended the day up 71.9 points, or 1 per cent, at 7122.3. The All Ords gained 76.40 points, to close firmer by a similar margin.
Among the big miners, BHP was up $1.08, or 2.4 per cent, to $46.08; Rio Tinto gained $2.07, or 1.8 per cent, to $117.25; and Fortescue Metals Group added 45 cents, or 2.1 per cent.
In lithium, Pilbara Minerals rose 5 cents, or 1.3 per cent, to $3.99, while fellow producer Allkem advanced 10 cents, or 0.8 per cent, to $12.03. Mineral Resources, which produces iron ore and lithium, sank 84 cents, or 1 per cent, to $79.93; and IGO, which mines nickel as well as lithium, was down 10 cents, or 0.8 per cent, to $12.59.
Among the lithium project developers, Lake Resources advanced 2 cents, or 4.4 per cent, to 47 cents; Piedmont Lithium put on 2 cents, or 2.4 per cent, to 84 cents and Liontown Resources – which received a $2.50 a share takeover offer from global specialty chemicals giant Albemarle on Tuesday, which its board rejected – was flat at $2.59.
In coal, Whitehaven Coal lifted 18 cents, or 2.8 per cent, to $6.67; New Hope Corporation appreciated 9 cents, or 1.7 per cent, to $5.55; Stanmore Resources advanced 3 cents to $3.47, and Terracom rose 2.5 cents, or 4 per cent, to 66 cents.
Africa-based uranium producer Paladin Energy was the star on the resources screens, up 5 cents, or 8.3 per cent, to 65 cents, while gold miner Gold Road Resources was at the other end, down 6.5 cents, or 3.9 per cent, to $1.61.
Commonwealth Bank shares rose $1.41, or 1.6 per cent, to $97.75; National Australia Bank gained 63 cents, or 2.3 per cent, to $27.67, Westpac shares were up 32 cents, or 1.5 per cent, to $21.69. while ANZ advanced 21 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $22.87.
Radio-pharmaceutical company Cyclopharm jumped 14.5 cents, or 9.7 per cent, to $1.64 a share after the company announced it had entered the final stage for US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval of its lung imaging technology, Technegas.
US markets put March bank woes behind them
In the US, markets rose overnight as investors bet that the worst of the regional bank crisis has passed. The broad S&P 500 index added 23 points, or 0.6 per cent, to close at 4,050.83; the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 141.43, or 0.4 per cent, to 32,859.03; and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 87.2 points, or 0.7 per cent, 12,013.47, as investors continued to pick-over tech stocks.
In the bond market, the US 10-year Treasury yield eased 1.9 basis points to 3.547 per cent, while the 2-year yield, considered more sensitive to interest rate policy, moved 4.2 basis points higher, to 4.122 per cent. The 2-year yield surged above 5 per cent shortly before SVB’s collapse on March 10, but has come back sharply. Two-year yields have eased 65 basis points in March, approaching their biggest monthly drop since January 2008.
Gold is up US$17.20, or 0.9 per cent, to US$1,980.44 an ounce, while the global benchmark Brent crude oil gained 94 cents, or 1.2 per cent, to US$79.22 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate rose US$1.40, or 1.9 per cent, to US$74.37 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying 67.09 US cents, up from 66.70 US cents at the local close on Thursday.
