ASX down slightly as Macquarie, Bapcor disappoint; Pexa, Fortescue, Lynas jump

Macquarie quarterly profit falls, CFO flags exit. RBA governor cautions on speed of inflation fall. Bapcor sinks on profit warning, board exodus.

Andrew Forrest-run Fortescue's iron ore operations are on investor radars today. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Thursday, July 24. The ASX 200 index closed down 0.3 per cent lower at 8709.4 points with broad-based falls outweighing healthcare gains. Bapcor, Macquarie, Challenger, Computershare down. Pexa soars. 

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones index rose 1.1 per cent after reports the US and EU were closing in on their own 15 per cent tariff deal after successful talks with Japan a day earlier. The S&P 500 climbed 0.8 per cent to a third straight record and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.6 per cent, closing above 21,000 points for the first time.

Cryptocurrency giant bitcoin is around $US119,000.

The Aussie dollar is trading around US66.09c.

Originally published as ASX down slightly as Macquarie, Bapcor disappoint; Pexa, Fortescue, Lynas jump