Consumer trust isn’t something to be taken for granted, but reports from the UK, US and here at home are all pointing towards an uplift in trust levels around financial advice, which can only be a welcome development.
There are significant tailwinds behind the financial advice industry at the moment, but some major obstacles are still preventing advice practices from taking advantage of surging demand according to a new study from CFS.
ASX surrenders early lead to fall flat
ASX weakens, industrials gain as corporate activity booms, Chinese exports jump
The ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) weakened throughout the day to finish slightly lower than it started on Tuesday.
The majority of the weakness came from the energy, down 0.6%, and real estate sectors, down 0.9%. Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) and GPT Group (ASX: GPT) were among the hardest hit, falling over 1% each.
The ASX mining sector, including BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), gained after Chinese exports jumped significantly more than expected, up 32% in June, quickening from a 28% annual growth rate in May.
Shares in Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA) continued to fight back against an earlier shorting attack with the company upgrading its profit result for the financial year.
Nearmap confirmed its annual contract value would be $133.8 million, ahead of the $132 million estimated just a few weeks ago. The Nearmap share price jumped 14.4% in response.
Shares in small-cap prepared meals group Youfoodz Holdings Ltd (ASX: YFZ) surged 77.5% to 90 cents per share after global competitor HelloFresh (ETR: EFG) lobbed a $125.3 million takeover bid.
Youfoodz shares remain well below its $1.50 IPO price, likely leaving many shareholders underwhelmed.
Platinum tanks, iCar Asia under offer, almonds going nuts
Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX: PTM) was the worst among the large caps, dropping 8.3% after reporting assets under management had dropped by just $167 million to $23.5 billion.
Meanwhile, shares in competitor Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) gained 2.5%.
Online car trading business iCar Asia Ltd (ASX: ICQ), which operates in South East Asia, jumped 60% after receiving a 55 cent per share takeover offer from Carsome Group. This is 10% ahead of the offer received in October last year.
Almond producer Select Harvests Limited (ASX: SHV) is benefitting from the growing drought across California.
Select Harvest, the world’s largest producer of almonds, delivered a market update announcing almond shipments to date are up 21.7% with forward commitments 34% ahead.
Management noted this was an ‘unprecedented pace’ with shipment records being set in 10 of the 11 months to date. Adding to this has been a price spike of 5-10%. SHV shares finished 16% higher on the news.
Personal lender Plenti Group Ltd (ASX: PLT), an investment in the Federation strategy, jumped 11.9% after reporting $83 million loan originations in June, a $1 billion annual run rate by comparison.
The loan book has increased to $757 million, 96% above 2020 and 23% above the March quarter.
Inflation accelerates, US markets fall, bank profits double
All three US stock market benchmarks closed around 0.3% lower overnight, the Nasdaq down 0.4% after inflation continued to accelerate.
According to the initial release, inflation moved 0.9% higher in June, taking the annual pace to 5.4% from 5% in May, the fastest since 2008.
Once again, the cost of used cars contributed over one-third of the increase, but food, energy, and housing prices also contributed. The core, less volatile measure also increased 4.5% from 3.8%.
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) profit doubled to US$5.5 billion for the quarter on revenue of US$15.4 billion as a boom in corporate activity and takeovers benefitted the group’s dealmakers.
The funds management division saw revenue double to over US$5 billion, overcoming a 32% fall in the group’s trading operations as lower volatility reduced the demand for hedging; shares fell 1.1% on the news.
J.P. Morgan (NYSE: JPM) delivered a similarly strong result, nearly tripling quarterly profit to US$11.9 billion despite an 8% fall in revenue, the bank benefitting from a reversal of pandemic-era loan writedown reversals.
J.P. Morgan’s investment banking fees rose 25% on the back of a series of major IPOs, trading revenue fell 30%, whilst the traditional bank saw a further 8% fall in interest income as low interest rates continue to bite; shares were 1.7% lower.
