ASX rises, Temple & Webster +9%, NSW records worst day in cases: Aus shares up 0.4% at noon

Market Reports

by Lauren Evans

The Australian share market rose at the open and maintained its foothold in positive territory. At noon, the ASX was tracking 0.4 per cent or 28.6 points higher at 7422.9. The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 30 points.

Miners powered ahead while Technology and Health Care shares dropped.

The two biggest mining companies, BHP and Rio Tinto, each set new highs this morning. BHP (ASX:BHP) leapt 3.1 per cent to $53.46 and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) jumped 2.5 per cent at $133.321, before dipping to a 1.9 per cent rise at noon. 

BlueScope Steel (ASX:BSL) hit a record high, tracking 4.4 per cent higher following its preliminary results for FY21. OZ Minerals (ASX:OZL) is up 8.3 per cent as the best-performing stock following the release of its Q2 report. 

Major energy suppliers are amid the incline. Oil Search (ASX:OSH) is up 0.6 per cent following the release of its Q2 results. Woodside Petroleum (ASX:WPL) is up 1.2 per cent. 

Major health shares are down with CSL (ASX:CSL) down 1.1 per cent followed by Sonic (ASX:SHL) down 0.4 per cent and Fisher and Paykel (ASX:FPH) down 1.9 per cent. 

Onto banks, Westpac is announced it will divest its Pacific businesses for $420 million to Kina Securities. The company is tracking 0.8 per cent lower at noon. NAB (ASX:NAB) is down 0.2 per cent. Commonwealth (ASX:CBA) and ANZ (ASX:ANZ) are up 0.8 per cent and 0.3 per cent. 

In headlines, online furniture and homeware retailer Temple and Webster (ASX:TPW) is up 7 per cent following record highs in revenue and customer volume for its full year results.

NSW recorded 172 new Covid-19 cases, being the highest daily total for the current Sydney outbreak. Victoria is set to lift its lockdown after recording 10 new cases. 

Local economic news

ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence drops a further 3.6 points to 100.7 as covid-19 cases numbers remain stubbornly high in NSW, despite the greater Sydney lockdown.

Consumer confidence continues to remain well below the 2021 weekly average of 110.6, however it is still 11.7 points higher than the same week a year ago, July 25 2020 at 89 points.

Confidence fell in both major cities this week, down 2.2 points to 99.3 in Sydney and down 6.8 points to 99.0 in Melbourne.

Consumer Confidence also fell significantly in Brisbane, however increased slightly in Adelaide as the state continues to record low covid-19 case numbers. The indices to drive consumer confidence lower this week were those related to prospects for the next year with those expecting to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year down significantly and those expecting ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next year also down.

Company news 

Online furniture and homeware retailer Temple & Webster (ASX:TPW) post record highs across the board in revenue and customer volume for their full year ending 30 Jun 2021.

Papua New Guinea's oil & gas supplier Oil Search (ASX:OSH), increased its revenue and oil production for the second quarter (Q2), ending 30 Jun 2021.

Global call recording software Dubber Corporation (ASX: DUB), received firm commitments for a two-tranche placement, issuing shares to institutional investors at $2.95 per share.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector is Materials, up 2.1 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Health Care, down 0.9 per cent.

The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is OZ Minerals (ASX:OZL), trading 8.39 per cent higher at $23.89. It is followed by shares in BlueScope Steel (ASX:BSL) and Worley (ASX:WOR).

The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Silver Lake Resources (ASX:SLR), trading 2.86 per cent lower at $1.44. It is followed by shares in Deterra Royalties (ASX:DRR) and The A2 Milk Company (ASX:A2M).

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1795.93 an ounce.
Iron ore is 0.7 per cent higher at US$202.74 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 1.27 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 73.82 US cents.

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