The Australian share opened lower this morning, but changed course around noon – remaining in positive territory for the rest of the day. The local bourse managed to claw its way back up past the 5,800 points mark again in the final minutes of trade.
Also, it was a busy day as we digested several major companies’ profit results. The standout performer was Woolworths, whose shares have risen almost 4.5% after the release of its results – causing the local market to jump 14 points.
Out of the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank was the only one whose share price dropped since it is trading ex-dividend today.
At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 14 points (or 0.24%) higher to finish at 5,805.
The value of trades was $7.1 billion on volume of 936 million shares. The top three stocks by value were Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA), Woolworths
(ASX:WOW) and Westpac Banking Corporation
(ASX:WBC).
On the futures market the SPI is up 31 points.
Economic newsThe Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released two sets of rather weak economic data. The first set is about wage growth, which remains at a record low. The Wage Price Index rose 1.9% through the year to the December quarter 2016. Seasonally adjusted, private sector wages rose 0.4 per cent and public sector wages grew 0.6 per cent.
The ABS also released data for construction work done. In the September quarter, it fell sharply by 4.9% which led to the 0.5% fall in GDP at the time. In its latest figures, for the December quarter, it fell just 0.2%. However, in the year, between the 2015 and 2016 December quarters, total construction fell 7.8%.
Company newsBlackmores Ltd
(ASX:BKL) has reported that its 1H FY17 net profit fell 41% to $28.5 million as demand from Chinese shoppers in Australia slumped. Last year, the vitamin marker decided to focus on making direct sales to China, instead of selling to Chinese shopping agents – who buy products in Australia and ship it back to China. The company will pay its shareholders an interim dividend of $1.30, which is $2 lower than last year’s figure. At the close of trade, shares in Blackmores plunged 10.34% to $104.53.
Woodside Petroleum’s
(ASX:WPL) FY16 net profit after tax has surged to US$868 million – 33 times higher than the prior corresponding period’s profit figure. The company this result was driven by record production levels and a reduction in unit production costs. Woodwide declared a final dividend of US49c a share.
Fairfax
(ASX:FXJ) has posted a 1H FY17 NPAT of $83.7 million – a gain of 6.1% over last year’s first half result. The company will pay an interim dividend of 2 cps (70% franked).
Woolworths
(ASX:WOW) has slashed its interim dividend by almost 23% to 34cps for 1H FY17. This is lowest interim dividend since 2006 – due to falling profit and intense price competition with Coles and Aldi. Woolworth’s net profit for the first half was down 16.7% to $785.7 million. This was a better than expected result.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector was Staples adding 2.5 per cent to close at 9,365. The worst performing sector was Financials, losing 0.5 per cent to close at 6,687 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Vocus Communications
(ASX:VOC), rising 9.32 per cent to close at $4.81. Shares in McMillan Shakespeare
(ASX:MMS) and Fairfax
(ASX:FXJ) also closed higher.
The worst performing stock was Isentia
(ASX:ISD), dropping 35.43 per cent to close at $1.79. Shares in Blackmores
(ASX:BKL) and Saracen Minerals
(ASX:SAR) also closed lower.
CommoditiesGold is trading at $US1,235 an ounce.
Light crude is $0.45 higher at $US54.23 a barrel.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7695.
