Australian equities

The frictionless movement of assets is becoming a common feature of markets around the developed world, yet Australia remains a step behind. The ASX is in no mood to rush the move to T+1, however, after its calamitous attempt to implement distributed ledger technology.

Stephen Bruce is a director, portfolio manager and head of research at Perennial Value. He joined as an equities analyst in April 2000 and was promoted to the role of research coordination/senior equities analyst and assumed the role of deputy portfolio manager for the Perennial Value Shares for Income Trust in 2006. In 2011, he…

ASX continues to weaken, unemployment surprises, NZ nearing second recession The ASX200 (ASX:XJO) finished another 0.7% lower on Thursday, with every sector but miners and retailers falling. Amongst the biggest detractors were the Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) and CSL Ltd (ASX:CSL), down 1.6% and 1.9% respectively. The sell-off came despite what appears to be great news for the economy; the unemployment rate…

ASX stronger, Greensill risk expands, Vocus (ASX:VOC) deal confirmed  The ASX200 finished 0.5% higher in a mixed day for the market, with the IT and materials sectors remaining the primary drags on performance. The industrials sector which includes a number of infrastructure and more cyclical companies was the highlight, adding 1.1% with the likes of Transurban Group (ASX:TCL) and Sydney…

ASX to open higher, strong US lead, Commonwealth Bank (ASXLCBA) hit with ASIC investigation The ASX200 (ASX:XJO) finished 1.7% higher to start the week, rebounding quickly from Friday’s so-called ‘bloodbath’. Once again, market volatility was met with reassuring language from central banks and positive news around the vaccine rollout. The Reserve Bank of Australia confirmed that they would be…

Mark Arnold and Jason Orthman stood at the podium to collect three awards at last Friday (Feb 26) afternoon’s annual Morningstar funds awards, including the main prize, that of Fund Manager of the Year. But they didn’t quite scoop the pool. They were on stage four times but had to make way for T. Rowe…

Global markets drop, ASX200 down most in five months, Orica (ASX:ORI) and Afterpay (ASX:APT) smashed The ASX200 (ASX:XJO) fell 2.4% on Friday, the worst daily fall in five months, taking the weekly performance down 1.8% but still managed to deliver a 1% return for February. On Friday it was all about tech or anything that has benefitted…

ASX to open higher on US policy, mining sell off, Woolworths (ASX:WOW) drinks demerging, Platinum (ASX:PTM) delivers performance fee The ASX200 struggled to keep up with the positive US lead, falling 0.9% in the session with a number of companies going ex-dividend key to the weakness. Despite having no impact on the companies’ operations, the payment of…

ASX on the cusp of five months of gains, Seek (ASX:SEK) sold off on split, energy sector boom The ASX200 (ASX:XJO) rallied 0.9% on Tuesday, overcoming a weak start with the energy and oil sector powering the market higher. Woodside Petroleum (ASX:WPL) and Origin Energy (ASX:ORG) added 5.7% and 3.6% respectively after the oil price gained 4% overnight on signs…

Tough finish to the week, Cochlear (ASX:COH) rallies despite taking a hit, QBE Insurance (ASX:QBE) reports billion dollar loss The ASX200 (ASX:XJO) dropped 1.3% on Friday, sending the benchmark to a 0.2% loss for the week despite a strong series of company reports. Friday’s weakness was driven by the energy sector, which fell 3.6% and mining, -2.4%,…