Healthcare heavyweights boost local market 

The local share market has finished higher, helped by gains from healthcare companies CSL and Cochlear as they delivered upbeat profit results.  

Also, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported that Australian wages rose 0.8 per cent in the June quarter, and 3.6 per cent year-on-year, which was slightly below consensus forecasts. 

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index advanced up 28 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 7,305.0, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 27.3 points, also 0.4 per cent, to 7,520.4. 

The ASX’s healthcare sector was the best performer, climbing 3.2 per cent. Sector heavyweight CSL rose $9.80, or 3.7 per cent, to $273.32 as the blood products giant delivered a full-year underlying profit of US$2.6 billion, up 10 per cent from a year ago. For its part, global hearing implants leader Cochlear jumped $13.26, or 5.7 per cent, to $247.185, after announcing a full-year underlying net profit that was up 10 per cent to $305 million, at the top end of the company’s guidance range. 

Among the big banks, NAB rose 37 cents, or 1.3 per cent, to $28.70 as it announced an unaudited third-quarter profit of $1.75 billion, and a buy-back of up to $1.5 billion of its shares. Westpac added 6 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $21.97; while Commonwealth Bank receded 19 cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $103.51; and ANZ slipped 5 cents, to $25.08. 

In the bulk miners, BHP retreated 13 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $44.62; and Rio Tinto lost 47 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to $106.05; but iron ore specialist Fortescue lifted 20 cents, or 1 per cent, to $20.82. 

In energy, Woodside Petroleum added 4 cents to $38.64; Santos slipped 3 cents to $7.91; and Beach Energy retreated 2 cents, to $1.59.  

Of the coal cohort, Whitehaven Coal advanced 19 cents, or 2.7 per cent, to $7.33; New Hope Corporation gained 8 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to $5.71; Stanmore Resources was up 4 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to $2.82; and Coronado Global Resources was up 3.5 cents, or 2.2 per cent, to $1.625. 

In lithium, producer Allkem shed 41 cents, or 2.9 per cent, to $13.56; fellow producer Pilbara Minerals dropped 17 cents, or 3.4 per cent, to $4.82; IGO, which mines nickel as well as lithium, eased 5 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to $12.86; and Mineral Resources, which produces iron ore and lithium, fell 57 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $65.67. 

Another positive update regarding its Kachi project in Argentina sent lithium stock Lake Resources surging 3.5 cents, or 16.7 per cent, to 24 cents. Lake is up 40 per cent in the last five days.  

Penfolds powers Treasury Wine 

Treasury Wine gained 32 cents, or 2.8 per cent, as its result showed a strong performance from the Penfolds division in the year ended June 30, which saw the upmarket division deliver a 14.2 per cent rise in earnings, to $365 million. Treasury Wines’ total revenue slipped 1.7 per cent to $2.49 billion for the financial year, while net profit was down 3.3 per cent, at $254.5 million. The company lifted its overall profit margin by 2.9 percentage points to 24.1 per cent as it chases a target of having margins above 25 per cent, and boosted its final dividend to 17 cents a share from 16 cents a year earlier.  

Also reporting on Tuesday was annuities and funds management business Challenger, which notched a statutory net profit up 13 per cent to $288 million, on the back of strong demand for its retirement income products. Total assets under management increased 6 per cent to $105 billion for the 2023 financial year. Challenger forecast normalised pre-tax profit of between $555 million-$605 million for the 2024 financial year, but the shares fell 20 cents, or 2.1 per cent, to $6.18, because the market evidently expected more.  

Automotive aftermarket parts company GUD lifted underlying earnings by 27 per cent, and that, combined with the recent announcement of the sale of its Davey pumps brand, saw its shares surge $1.52, or 14.9 per cent, to $11.74: clearly the market likes the fact that GUD will be a pure-play automotive stock. 

In tech, location-tracking and family security app operator Life360 soared 99 cents, or 12.3 per cent, to $9.01 after the platform reported its second consecutive quarter of positive operating cash flow, as its revenue grew 45 per cent year-on-year to $US70.8 million. 

US markets take pause  

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average broke a three-day winning streak, as concerns over the state of the global economy mounted and a decline in US banks pressured the index. The Dow slid 361.24 points, or 1 per cent, to 34,946.39, while the broader S&P 500 lost 51.86 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 4,437.86, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index retreated 157.28 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 13,631.05. Bank stocks were under pressure as ratings agency Fitch warned that it may have to downgrade the credit ratings of a slew of US banks, following Moody’s similar action last week. 

US stocks also noticed that Chinese industrial production and retail sales missed consensus expectations.  

In the bond market, the US 10-year yield advanced 2.3 basis points, to 4.218 per cent, while the 2-year yield eased less than a basis point, to 4.961 per cent. 

Gold is down US$5.75, or 0.3 per cent, to US$1,901.83 an ounce, while the global benchmark Brent crude oil grade lost US$1.32, or 1.5 per cent, to US$84.89 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate oil was up 8 cents to US$81.07 a barrel. 

The Australian dollar is buying 64.53 US cents this morning, down from 64.74 US cents at Tuesday’s ASX close. 

James Dunn

James is an experienced senior journalist and host of The Inside Network's industry events.