Thursday 27th February – ASX 200 up 28 – Results Dominate | Beeks Downunder-Because not all financial news is boring!

ASX 200 pushed 28 points higher to 8268 (0.3%) as results nearly finished. Banks were flat with ANZ up 0.5% and WBC up 0.4% with the Big Bank Basket at $253.25 (). Health insurers raced away on results and increases from April 1. REITs not doing much, GMG down 0.2% as it released the SPP details. Industrials mainly firmer, WTC still suffering down 2.6% with COL reporting and rallying 3.5%. QAN results and special dividend cheered up 5.6% and retail slightly firmer, LOV up 0.5% and PMV up 0.9%. BAP had a solid reaction day up 5.3% and APE shot the lights out, up 19.9% on better-than-expected numbers. IEL crashed 7.6% on worse than expected results. In resources, iron ore stocks found some friends, BHP up 0.8% and FMG up 1.7%. Gold miners pushed higher again, aided by a lower AUD, NEM back up 1.9% with EVN up 1.5%. Lithium and rare earths slightly firmer, PLS up 0.5% and LYC up 0.6%. Energy stocks saw some bargain hunting, STO up 1.2% and KAR posting better than expected numbers up 4.7%. Uranium stocks showed a glimmer of light, NXG up 4.5%. In corporate news, PME fell 3.7% on a 4m share block trade from the founder. NEU jumped 8.9% on better Daybue numbers. RHC jumped 6.8% after it appointed Goldmans to potentially sell its 52.8% in the European business. Nothing on the economic front. Asian markets drifted lower, Japan unchanged , HK off 0.9% and China down 0.5%. 10-year yield at 4.34%.

HIGHLIGHTS

Winners: AEF, APE, RPL, CHN, MMS, MPL, MEU
Losers: APX, PPT, OCL, IEL, IDX, MAQ, SMR, CMW
Positive Sectors: Iron ore. Gold miners. Supermarkets. ‘Old Skool’ platforms.
Negative Sectors: Healthcare. Tech.
ASX 200 Hi 8300 Lo 8243
Big Bank Basket: Rises slightly to $253.25(+0.1%)
All-Tech Index: Down 0.5%
Gold: Rises to AUD$4628
Bitcoin: Falls to US$85145
10-year yield falls to 4.34%.
AUD: Falls to 62.86c.
Asian markets down, Japan down 0.2%, HK off 1.1% and China down 0.2%.
Dow futures up 17 Nasdaq up 22

MARKET MOVERS

APE +19.9% beats forecasts.
AEF +22.3% money flows in – share price goes up.
MPL +10.0% solid price rises to come.
MMS +10.9% results.
CHN +12.9% broker upgrades.
NEU +8.9% Daybue sales in US.
CGF +8.0% APRA capital update.
VAU +2.6% results.
KAR +4.7% results and acquisition.
LTR +5.5% roaring ahead.
CVW +14.3% results beat.
AIS +10.0% results.
DUG +10.4% results better than expected.
APX -14.3% broker downgrades. 40% down in two days.
IEL -7.6% not enough students.
PPT -9.,2% results.
PGF -4.5% non-binding proposal to acquire PMC and PAI.
NXL -3.3% falls continue.
INR -6.7% Sibanye pulls pin.
ALA -7.4% sell off continues.
SND -11.9% results.
Speculative Stock of the Day: Nothing on any volume.

ECONOMIC AND OTHER NEWS

Private new capital expenditure (capex) fell 0.2% in December quarter 2024, to be 0.6% higher than December quarter 2023 (seasonally adjusted, chain volume measures), according to figures released today by ABS.
Jensen Huang said next-generation AI will need 100 times more compute than older models as a result of new reasoning approaches.
Nvidia delivered good-but-not-great quarterly numbers on Wednesday, drawing a muted response from investors accustomed to blowout results. Sales will be about$43bn in the fiscal first quarter, which runs through April.
Nissan is drawing up plans to replace its chief executive officer following another dismal set of earnings.
President Zelenskyy is set to visit Donald Trump on Friday to sign the rare earths deal. US will not give Ukraine security guarantees ‘beyond very much’, Trump says. Sounds like a great deal!
The dreaded ‘inverted yield’ curve, is back and it’s had a sterling prediction record over a 12- to 18-month timeframe for downturns going back decades. The last time it happened was in October 2022. Still waiting for that recession.
Trump cancels Chevron’s oil licence in Venezuela, BP pivots back to oil and gas after ‘misplaced’ faith in green energy.
Amazon debuts updated Alexa chatbot in push to catch up with rivals.