ASX edges lower as banks and tech stocks fall

Welcome to your five-minute recap of the trading day.

The numbers

The Australian sharemarket drifted lower, weighed down by banks and technology stocks, amid a flurry of earnings reports from index heavyweights such as Woodside and BHP.

The S&P/ASX 200 declined by 13.3 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 8071.20 amid a fall in major bank shares, alongside gains in energy and mining stocks. The lukewarm trading day followed a mixed session on Wall Street overnight.

Wall Street kicked off the week with a mixed session. Credit: AP

The lifters

The energy sector was a strong performer, with Woodside shares rising 3.9 per cent after the oil and gas producer’s results beat expectations, with its underlying profits falling 14 per cent in the June half.

Meanwhile, BHP reported a 2 per cent lift in underlying full-year profit, beating analysts’ forecasts, but warned a slowdown at Chinese steel mills this year could pummel earnings from key commodity exports. The mining giant’s shares rose 1.3 per cent.

The energy and mining sectors were also buoyed by rising commodity prices overnight. Brent crude climbed 3 per cent to $US81 a barrel after Libya’s eastern government said it would close oilfields and halt production and exports. Oil and gas producer Santos rose 1.9 per cent.

Iron ore jumped 4 per cent overnight to $US100 a tonne, boosting Fortescue (up 1.8 per cent) and Rio Tinto (up 0.8 per cent).

Coles was among the top-performing large caps after it reported a 2.1 per cent rise in full-year profits to $1.1 billion. Shares in the supermarket giant rose 1.7 per cent.

Engineering contractor Worley advanced 2.8 per cent after reporting its profits jumped 24 per cent. Mexican fast food chain Guzman y Gomez rose 3.2 per cent after its results revealed sales and underlying earnings were above the forecasts in its IPO documents.

The laggards

On the flipside, shares in fashion jewellery chain Lovisa plunged 13 per cent as investors took some money off the table after its full-year results showed net profit rose 20.9 per cent to $82.4 million. Lovisa is up 34 per cent so far this year.

Zip shares lost 7.9 per cent after the buy now, pay later firm reported cash earnings before tax, depreciation and amortisation of $69 million. While RBC Capital Markets said the result was slightly ahead of market expectations, the stock had also surged lately. Zip shares are up more than 230 per cent since the start of this year.

Bank shares were lower, with Commonwealth Bank (down 1 per cent), Westpac (down 0.6 per cent), National Australia Bank (down 1 per cent) and ANZ Bank (down 0.2 per cent) all falling. Bendigo and Adelaide Bank shares lost 4.2 per cent following its full-year results on Monday, which showed cash earnings slid 2 per cent. Technology shares were weaker, with accounting software group Xero falling 2.2 per cent and data centre group NextDC falling 1.3 per cent.

The lowdown

Adam Dawes, a senior investment adviser at Shaw and Partners, said BHP’s dividend cut would be closely watched by many investors, including self-funded retirees. “That’s one [stock] that we would be cautious on because dividends are going to be lower going forward,” he said.

The mining giant announced a final dividend of US74¢ ($1.09) a share. Combined with the interim dividend announced in February, BHP shareholders will pocket $US1.46 a share ($2.16) for the financial year, down 14 per cent from a year earlier. Despite the lower dividend, Dawes said BHP’s outlook appeared solid, with the mining giant planning to increase its capital expenditure.

Overall, Dawes found the earnings season had so far gone well for corporate Australia.

“There hasn’t been too many surprises,” he said. Dawes said this Thursday’s results from Wesfarmers, the owner of retailers including Bunnings, Officeworks and Kmart, would be an important gauge of discretionary spending.

Tweet of the day

Quote of the day

“We have the world’s largest endowment of copper resources. We are unlocking more of that significant resource base through the plans that we are laying out,” said BHP chief executive Mike Henry, explaining the company’s plan to ramp up its copper output.

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With AP

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