ASX 200 falls for third day
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The news: The Australian sharemarket fell for the third consecutive day, following Wall Street’s 1.4% drop as investors reacted to higher-than-expected inflation figures.
The numbers: The ASX 200 dropped 0.74% to 7,547.7, with nine out of 11 sectors ending the day in red.
IT was the worst performing sector, down 1.3%, followed by financials (-1.2%) and materials (-0.9%).
The big four banks all finished in red with Commonwealth Bank ending the day down 1.86% after its half-year results saw cash profit drop 3% to $5.02 billion and net profit fall 8%.
Westpac and NAB dropped 2.1% and 1.7%, respectively, while ANZ lost 1.42% as it outlined a $1 billion capital notes raise to meet capital requirements.
However, AMP jumped 11.34% despite reporting a net profit drop of 32% for the year to December 2023 and as it announced chair Debra Hazelton would retire in April. In its results, AMP detailed its latest capital return plans that would see $55 million delivered in the form of final dividends and another $295 million through further dividends and/or an on-market share buyback.
The only sectors to finish in green were industrials, up 0.26%, and consumer discretionary (0.04%). Seven Group Holdings rose 6.63% after posting strong earnings. Similarly, Computershare gained 4.71% on the back of its 23% jump in net profit for the first half of the financial year.
The best performing ASX 200 stock was Downer EDI, jumping 11.14% after reporting a 5.9% lift in half-year profit.
The worst performing stock was GrainCorp, down 12.18%, after announcing that it expected underlying profit to fall by over 50% in FY24.
The Australian dollar ended higher at US64.6 cents.
The context: Thursday will see the Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Michele Bullock fronting the Senate Economics Legislation Committee and the Australian Bureau of Statistics releasing unemployment figures.
Meanwhile, Goodman Group, Magellan, Origin Energy, Pro Medicus, South32, Vicinity Centres, Wesfarmers and Whitehaven will post earnings results on Thursday.
