While much ado is made of the science that goes into fund manager research, real assessment puts comparable weight on the art as well according to investment leaders.
While financials and materials dominated trades leading into 2024, the popularity of other sectors like healthcare and information technology followed generational, and even demographic, lines.
Local market on debt ceiling hold
Like all markets, the Australian stock exchange is refusing to make any substantial move until clarity comes from the negotiations in Washington over the looming US debt ceiling breach. On Tuesday the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished down 3.4 points at 7,259.9, while the broader All Ordinaries index dropped 3.3 points to 7,447.4.
A positive trading update couldn’t stop Qantas shares sliding 14 cents, or 2.2 per cent, to $6.36. The shares fell despite the company forecasting that underlying pre-tax profit would reach up to $2.5 billion for the 2023 financial year, and Qantas dedicated a further $100 million toward buying back its own shares.
All of the Big Four banks finished in the green, with Commonwealth Bank rising 54 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $99.44; ANZ adding 18 cents, or 0.8 per cent, to $23.97; NAB improving 10 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to $26.67; and Westpac finishing up 20 cents, or 1 per cent, to $21.26. Global investment bank and wealth manager Macquarie jumped $3.70, or 2.1 per cent, to $180.27.
Tech stocks stir
Tech stocks were an area of interest: enterprise software company Technology One jumped 43 cents, or 2.8 per cent, to $15.75 after saying that its net profit rose 24 per cent to $41.3 million in the six months ended March 31, on the back of a 22 per cent rise in revenue, to $210.3 million. The company lifted its interim dividend by 10 per cent, to 4.62 cents a share.
Afterpay’s owner, Block, added $3.95, or 4.5 per cent to $91.95, while sports tech business Catapult jumped 5.5 cents, or 7.4 per cent, after releasing full-year results that showed a lift in revenue and gross profit, and an improvement in the net loss.
Among the mining heavyweights, BHP slipped 40 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $43.80; Rio Tinto lifted 14 cents to $109.38; and Fortescue Metals walked back 11 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $20.45.
Gold miner St Barbara has rejected Silver Lake’s last-minute improved $722 million takeover bid, instead opting to sell its flagship Gwalia mine to the original bidder, Genesis Minerals. St Barbara shares slid 2 cents, or 3.3 per cent, to 58 cents on the news, while Silver Lake put on 2.5 cents, or 2.4 per cent, to $1.06. Genesis improved one cent, to $1.19.
In lithium, producer Allkem gained 12 cents, or 0.8 per cent, to $15.12; and fellow producer Pilbara Minerals eased 4 cents, also 0.8 per cent, to $4.77. IGO, which produces nickel and lithium, retreated 15 cents, or 1 per cent, to $14.73; and Mineral Resources, which mines iron ore as well as lithium, fell 71 cents, also 1 per cent, to $74.03.
On planet coal, New Hope Corporation spiked another 18 cents, or 3.5 per cent, to $5.33; it’s up 5.3 per cent in the last five days. Whitehaven Coal rose 6 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $6.89; but Stanmore Resources slipped 4 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to $2.76; and Yancoal Australia retreated 5 cents, or 1 per cent, to $5.16.
In energy, Woodside Energy gained 10 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $34.73, and Santos firmed 2 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $7.40, but Karoon Energy gave up 3 cents, or 1.5 per cent, to $2.01.
Negotiations continue, but no deal
In the US, the major indices remain under pressure as markets worry that Democrats and Republicans have not reached a consensus deal on the looming US debt ceiling. The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 231.07 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 33,055.51, while the broader S&P 500 index gave up 47.05 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 4,145.58, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 160.53 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 12,560.25.
On the bond market, the US 10-year Treasury yield eased 1.4 basis points to 3.701 per cent, while the 2-year yield gave up 2.1 basis points to 4.32 per cent.
Gold gained US$7.01. or 0.4 per cent, to US$1,976.80 an ounce, while the global benchmark Brent crude oil grade added 85 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to US$76.84 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate rose 99 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to US$73.90.
The Australian dollar is buying 66.12 US cents this morning, down from 66.53 cents at the local ASX close on Tuesday.
