ASX 200 rises after flat US close; Chalmers greenlights ANZ-Suncorp Bank union; IAG gets earnings cover; Adore buying IKOU

Nine staff pass motion of no confidence against CEO after job cuts revealed. ANZ, Suncorp Bank gain on deal completion. IAG secures earnings volatility cover. Adore Beauty buying iKOU for $25m. Mirvac's $2bn Sydney tower gets backer.

Inflation updates and their impact on rates decisions have driven most of the equity investor sentiment this week. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Friday, June 28.  The ASX 200 index closed flat, 0.1 per cent higher to 7767.50 points. US markets closed flat ahead of key inflation data.

The Aussie dollar is trading near US66.31c at 5pm AEST.

Updates

4:48 pm June 28, 2024

ASX 200 ends flat amid financial year end

David Rogers

Australia's stock market ends flat amid financial year end flows after a strong intraday rise led by gains in US stock index futures after the Trump/Biden debate.

US PCE inflation data on Friday will be crucial for the US interest rate outlook.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed up 0.1 per cent at 7767.5 points after rising to 7819.

It rose 7.8 per cent for the financial year or 12.1 per cent on a total return basis.

At Friday's peak the index had bounced 2.2 per cent from a four-week low of 7654.2 it reached on Thursday, suggesting there was some major buying going on, perhaps due to a change of mandate or anticipation of inflows next month.

Tax loss selling may have capped the rebound as some of this financial year's losers – notably materials – underperformed. Window dressing might have weighed from there as some the year's winners, notably technology and financials rose.

IAG soared 7.2 per cent on a profit upgrade, Suncorp jumped 3.6 per cent after the Federal Treasurer approved its takeover by ANZ, and CBA rose 0.9 per cent.

BHP fell 1.1 per cent, Rio Tinto lost 2.1 per cent and Pilbara Minerals dived 5.8 per cent.

The index remains hemmed in by a narrowing consolidation pattern, defined on the charts by support and resistance lines near 7675 and 7830.

A test of the record high near 7900 is likely after the strong bounce this week.

July is normally a strong month with an average rise of 2 per cent in the past 20 years and 3 per cent in the past decade as new money is usually invested.

4:04 pm June 28, 2024

Nine staff pass motion of no confidence in Sneesby

Sophie Elsworth

Staff at trouble-plagued media company Nine Entertainment have passed a motion of no confidence in boss Mike Sneesby and its board after he announced hundreds of job losses across its publishing, digital and broadcasting divisions.

Employees from Nine’s publishing division, which includes The Australian Financial Review, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, met on Friday with union officials from the Media, Entertainments & Arts Alliance to voice their "dismay" over the widespread job cuts and said "senior editors appear to have been kept in the dark until the last moment about the planned job cuts".

"We demand an explanation from the company about why the publishing division appears to have been disproportionately targeted for job losses, given the recent strong financial performance by the mastheads in a particularly difficult time for all print outlets, and given the fact that the Meta money was spent across the company, rather than just on the mastheads," a MEAA statement said.

"As a result, staff across The Age, SMH, AFR, WAtoday and the Brisbane Times have today unanimously passed a motion of no confidence in Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby and the Nine Entertainment company board."

The board is led by Catherine West who has only been in the role two weeks after she replaced Peter Costello, who resigned after he was involved in a physical altercation with The Australian reporter Liam Mendes at Canberra airport on June 6.

3:42 pm June 28, 2024

Customers won't notice changes: Suncorp boss

Glen Norris

Suncorp chief executive Steve Johnston says Queenslanders won’t notice any change in services following the successful completion of the $4.9bn sale of the group’s bank to ANZ.

The deal means the bank’s so-called mum-and-dad shareholders will receive about $500m as part of a capital return from the sale.

Mr Johnston said he was confident everything was in place to complete the ownership transfer by August 1 after the final green light was given by federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

He said customers of both the insurance and banking arms of Brisbane-based Suncorp would not see any differences once the split off was completed, except the addition of the word “bank” to the Suncorp signs outside its branches.

1:51 pm June 28, 2024

Bruce Mathieson Jr calls last drinks at Endeavour

Valerina Changarathil

Endeavour Group director Bruce Mathieson Junior is, as planned, quitting the board of the listed liquor and pubs giant.

In January, the hospitality veteran and son of Bruce Mathieson Senior – Endeavour’s largest shareholder with a stake of 15 per cent – announced he would leave the board as part of a renewal process after a bitter public battle at the end of last year.

He was employed in an executive capacity by Endeavour until June 2022 and joined the board in November of that year.

Endeavour is continuing to work with the Bruce Mathieson Group (BMG), its largest shareholder, in the ongoing search for a suitable replacement for Mr Mathieson as its representative. Shares in Endeavour are trading slightly lower near $5.11.

1:17 pm June 28, 2024

Capital Economics pushes RBA rate cut to 2Q 2025

David Rogers

Capital Economics pushes its expected timing of the first RBA rate cut out to 2Q 2025 from 1Q 2025 after a higher than CPI data this week.

The RBA will need to see trimmed mean CPI rising at a rate consistent with its target for at least two quarters before cutting rates, says Capital Economics Austrlaia & NZ economist, Abhijit Surya.

He says a restart of rate hikes is unlikely as the inflation rate for the majority of services has fallen since the start of the year and incoming data should show further easing of capacity pressures.

"In particular, anaemic consumer demand will probably convince the RBA to stay its hand," Mr Surya says.

"That said, the risk is that the weakness in consumer spending proves short-lived, with tax cuts on the horizon."

12:28 pm June 28, 2024

ASX 200 extends rise to 0.7pc

David Rogers

Australia's stock market continues to rebound strongly from a four week low struck on Thursday as US futures add to positive offshore leads after a strong showing by Donald Trump in the first US Presidential debate.

Predictit's live betting odds jump in Trump's favour, pegging his re-election chance at 61 per cent versus 53 per cent just before the debate got under way.

The S&P/ASX 200 index is up 0.7 per cent to 7819 as S&P 500 futures rise 0.4 per cent with Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.5 per cent after the debate.

The index has rebounded 2.1 per cent from Thursday's low, helped by US share market leads as well as RBA Deputy Governor Hauser's pushback on rate hike speculation which has lowered Australian bond yields a few basis points.

All sectors except materials are in the green with property, utilities, tech and financials outperforming the benchmark.

IAG is the biggest points contributor, up 8.2 per cent on a profit upgrade.

Suncorp soars 5.4 per cent as Treasury Chalmers approves its takeovery by ANZ.

Goodman Group climbs 1.8 per cent as bond yields cool.

Cochlear climbs 2.4 per cent and CSL adds 0.9 per cent.

Mirvac gains 5.1 per cent on Japanese backing for its Pitt Street development.

11:52 am June 28, 2024

Rebates helped offset electric prices: ACCC

Tricia Rivera

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's Electricity Report says government rebates have helped to offset the impact of energy price increases.

The report shows the median effective prices for residential customers across all regions grew by 14 per cent between September 2022 to September 2023.

"Prices increased as a result of the continued effects of the energy market events in 2022. However, increases were largely offset by lower electricity usage due to Australia experiencing its warmest winter on record in 2023," the ACCC said in a statement on Friday.

The ACCC found residential electricity bills in the September 2023 quarter would have been 14 per cent higher without government rebates.

"Government rebates also helped to offset the impact of price increases on customer bills," the statement continued.

11:27 am June 28, 2024

Suncorp, ANZ rise as deal approved

Valerina Changarathil

Shares in insurance giant Suncorp are up nearly 5 per cent to $17.59 at 11.20am AEST after the Albanese Government's go-ahead to the $4.9bn sale of its banking arm to ANZ.

ANZ's shares are ticking slightly higher at $28.33 after some analysts predicted the integration with Suncorp Bank, which could take up to six years may compound its cost challenges.

As The Australian's Joyce Moullakis says the marathon effort to pull off the most substantive deal in the banking sector since 2008 has registered a win, but the hard work now begins.

10:51 am June 28, 2024 Highlight

200 job cuts at Nine

Sophie Elsworth

Nine Entertainment has announced it will cut hundreds of jobs blaming "recent market events" for axing staff and overhauling its business strategy.

In an email to all staff on Friday morning, Nine chief executive officer Mike Sneesby said the company must cut jobs to "continue to responsibly manage costs through the cycle." "An operational review of these businesses is underway and we will update you with further details about what this means for you and your teams in the coming weeks," Mr Sneesby said.

"From our nationwide team of almost 5000 people, around 200 jobs are expected to be affected across Nine including some vacant and casual roles not being filled. "Where possible, we will look for opportunities to redeploy our team members who are impacted and we will support them throughout the process."

Mr Sneesby also told staff, "these are tough decisions and I acknowledge it will be an uncertain period for some of you." The job cuts will see four per cent of Nine's workforce exit the business and comes amid the company remaining in turmoil over allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct at the network following the exit of news boss Darren Wick in March. An external independent review into conduct at the Nine remains ongoing.
At 10.45am on Friday Nine's share price was $1.38.

10:32 am June 28, 2024

Produce company now fully Aussie-owned

Joseph Carbone

One of the nation's largest fresh produce companies Premier Fresh, formerly LaManna Premier Group, is now fully Australian-owned.

The privately-owned produce retailer on Friday announced shareholders, Premier Group chief executive officer Anthony Di Pietro and director Mark Lo Giudice, had completed an acquisition of shares held in the company from majority shareholder Market Gardeners, a New Zealand-based company. The price of the acquisition was not disclosed.

Mr Lo Giudice is a former president of AFL club Carlton.

Mr Di Pietro said: "We recognise the challenges inherent in the fresh produce industry, yet with the experience, resolve and energy of our people, we are excited about our readiness to continue to lead and grow nationally and internationally.

"Day to day operations will continue uninterrupted. Our executive management team and organisational structure will remain unchanged, with a continued focus on delivering service excellence and maintaining the stability that all our stakeholders, grower partners and customers, rely on … we are so excited about this new era in Premier's journey, and we will maintain our commitment to growing for future generations."