ASX 200 finishes lower, Challenger surges
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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished lower on Tuesday, the second consecutive day of losses, following mixed results from earnings season.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.15% to 7,603.6 with seven out of 11 sectors finishing in red.
Utilities was the best performer at 0.71%, followed by financials (0.32%) and consumer discretionary (0.24%). Origin Energy was up 1.43%, along with AGL Energy (0.4%).
The best performing ASX 200 stock was financial company Challenger, which climbed 8.6% after announcing record annuity sales and an 80% lift in net profit.
On the consumer discretionary side, JB Hi Fi continued its surge and ended the day up 5.48%. Investors were energised by the better than expected earnings results on Monday despite the company posting that its NPAT was down 19.9%. Temple & Webster’s share price rose 9.68% after it posted a sales surge of 23% during the first half.
The healthcare sector closed weakest, down 1.64%, followed by telecommunications (-1.12%), and IT (-95%). CSL dropped 3% despite posting a 20% jump in profit for the first half of the financial year. This is the second consecutive day of losses for the biotech company after it announced that it abandoned plans for its failed drug CSL112 trial.
Seven West Media’s share price dropped 12.73% following its 53% drop in profit. Seek was down 4.2% after it reported that its net profit plunged 96% in the first half of the financial year.
The worst performing company was Strike Energy which dropped 23.8% after it announced a failed well test in the Perth Basin. The company was added to the ASX 200 last week.
The Australian dollar is lower buying US65.17 cents.
The context: The mixed results on the sharemarket reflected disparate results during earnings season. AMP, CBA, Computershare, Domain, Downer EDI, Evolution Mining, Fletcher building, Seven Group, IDP Education will all post earnings on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, US and UK inflation figures for January are set to be released on Wednesday.
