AU Morning Wrap | ASX Falls as WiseTech and Brambles Soar; S&P 500 Ends Winning Streak

Moomoo News AU wrote a column · Aug 20 19:47

G'day, mooers! Check out the latest news on today's stock market!

• Market Pulls Back From After Eyeing Records

• ASX falls but WiseTech, Brambles soar

• Stocks to watch: STO, DMP, IAG, etc.

AU Morning Wrap | ASX Falls as WiseTech and Brambles Soar; S&P 500 Ends Winning Streak

Wall Street Summary

After opening to a green, ninth session of gains, the market pulled away from all-time highs. If the $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ closed higher, it would be its longest winning streak for the year, but shortly after the 4 pm ET close, the index S&P 500 Index was falling back 0.20%. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ fell 0.15%, and the $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ fell 0.33%.

Investors are digesting comments made during the Democratic National Committee, where the Harris campaign made public their plans to combat price gouging, subsidize housing, and raise the corporate tax rate from 7% to 28%.

Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman spoke Tuesday and largely repeated her comments from a speech on Aug. 10, saying she will "remain cautious" when considering changes to the current monetary policy stance as inflation remains elevated, adding that she will monitor incoming data as part of the decision-making process.

Investors await macroeconomic data like Oil Inventories on Wednesday and existing home sales S&P PMI data on Thursday. Really, the market is waiting for Powell's speech in macroeconomics at Jackson Hole this Friday at 10 am ET; catch it live on moomoo with our broadcast and commentary.

AU Market Watch

Australian shares decline, following an overseas market pullback as investors navigate a heavy flow of profit results on the busiest day of the earnings season. ASX 200 dropped 20 points (0.25%) to 7977. This follows the S&P 500's 0.2% decrease to 5597.12 in New York after an 8% rally over the previous eight sessions.

Federal Reserve governor Michelle Bowman's comments on potential rate pivots weakened the US dollar, benefiting the Australian dollar, which is trading around US67.43¢. Gold prices surged to $US2531.75 an ounce, up over 22% this year. Sweden's central bank cut its benchmark rate to 3.5% from 3.75% and may consider further cuts.

In commodities, base metals rose in London, and iron ore prices in Singapore futures edged up to $US95.50 a tonne.

Crypto

As of latest data, $Bitcoin (BTC.CC)$ is priced at $59,100, down by 2.10% in the past 24 hours, while $Ethereum (ETH.CC)$ is priced at $2,579, down by 3.10% in the past 24 hours.

Stocks to Watch

On a busy day for corporate earnings, $Santos Ltd (STO.AU)$ reported an 18% drop in first-half underlying profit to $US654 million, missing the consensus estimate of $US695 million as LNG prices declined. Revenue fell 9% to $US2.71 billion.

Despite challenging business conditions, $Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd (DMP.AU)$ increased its final dividend. Same-store sales for the first few weeks of 2024-25 were down 1.3%. However, the company's full-year net profit surged 136.5% to $96 million.

Insurance giant $Insurance Australia Group Ltd (IAG.AU)$'s net profit rose 9% in fiscal 2024 to $900 million, and it announced an interim franked dividend of 4¢. The company expects gross written premium (GWP) growth in the "mid-to-high single digits."

$Fletcher Building Ltd (FBU.AU)$ swung to a loss of $227 million in fiscal 2024, reversing from a profit of $235 million the previous year due to weaker performance in its materials and distribution divisions.

$Corporate Travel Management Ltd (CTD.AU)$ issued a profit warning, citing that changes to the UK's refugee detention program will impact its first-half 2025 earnings, forecasting lower profits until December 31.

$AUB Group Ltd (AUB.AU)$ projected an underlying net profit of $190 million to $200 million for FY25, representing a growth of 11.1% to 16.9% over FY24.

Pallet maker $Brambles Ltd (BXB.AU)$ exceeded its guidance and increased its dividend. Sales rose 8% to $US6.5 billion, operating profit increased 19% to $US779.9 million, and the company issued a 34¢ dividend, up 30% from the previous year.

Shopping centre giant $Scentre Group (SCG.AU)$ posted a 170.3% increase in half-year profit to $403 million, including unrealized fair value movements on its properties.

$WiseTech Global Ltd (WTC.AU)$ reported a 28% increase in revenue to $1.04 billion, at the lower end of its FY24 guidance range, with statutory profit rising 24% to $262.8 million.

$Perpetual Ltd (PPT.AU)$ appointed former chief of Australian Retirement Trust Bernard Reilly as its new CEO, effective September 2.

$HMC Capital Ltd (HMC.AU)$, led by David Di Pilla, increased pre-tax operating earnings by 57% to $129 million for FY24, having grown its assets by nearly a third to $12.7 billion.

$Breville Group Ltd (BRG.AU)$ reported a 7.5% increase in full-year net profit to $118.5 million and a 3.5% rise in revenue to $1.53 billion. It also declared a fully franked dividend of 33¢ per share.

Struggling pathology company $Healius Ltd (HLS.AU)$ deepened its losses and did not issue a dividend to investors, reporting a loss of $645.8 million in FY24, compared to a $367.8 million loss in FY23.

$Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd (CWY.AU)$'s full-year net profit jumped to $158.2 million from $23.5 million, with the company on track to meet its FY26 earnings target of over $450 million.

$Superloop Ltd (SLC.AU)$ narrowed its annual net loss to $14.7 million after the internet broadband group achieved a 29% rise in revenue, partly due to acquisitions.

Economic Calendar (AEST)

9:50 am: Japan Balance of Trade (Jul)

4:00 am: FOMC Minutes

Source: Dow Jones Newswires, AFR

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