ASX dragged down by BHP: Aus shares close 0.1% lower

Market Reports

by Lauren Evans

The Australian share market edged lower in afternoon trade. At the closing bell, the ASX was 0.1 per cent or 9 points lower at 7,502.

BHP, Woodside Petroleum and CSL continued to weigh on the index, while Domino's Pizza charged ahead amid its FY21 results. 

Materials was the worst-performing sector, while the Financial, Real Estate and Utility sectors all pushed ahead. 

Mining giant BHP (ASX:BHP) closed 7.1 per cent lower, off the back of its earnings results and a $20 billion merger with Woodside. Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) closed 2.5 per cent lower and Fortescue Metals (ASX:FMG) closed 0.6 per cent lower. 

Woodside Petroleum (ASX:WPL) weighed down the Energy sector, closing 2 per cent lower, despite Santos (ASX:STO) closing 0.6 per cent higher. 

Health Care giant CSL (ASX:CSL) closed 1.7 per cent lower, after the company noted that profit is expected to ease in FY22. Despite this, Sonic Health Care (ASX:SHL) closed 1 per cent higher and Fisher and Paykel (ASX:FPH) closed 4 per cent higher. 

Onto banks, Commonwealth (ASX:CBA) closed 1.1 per cent higher, Westpac (ASX:WBC) closed 1.3 per cent higher, ANZ (ASX:ANZ) closed 0.4 per cent higher and NAB (ASX:NAB) closed 0.8 per cent higher. 

In headlines, Domino's Pizza (ASX:DMP) had a good run, closing 7.7 per cent higher. 

NSW recorded 633 new Covid-19 cases, its highest daily number yet. Victoria recorded 24 new cases while Queensland recorded 0 new cases. 

Local economic news 

The Australian Bureau of Statistics released their 'Wage Price Index, Australia' statement for the Jun quarter 2021. The seasonally adjusted WPI rose 0.4 per cent over the quarter and 1.7 per cent over the year. It also rose 0.5 per cent in the private sector and 0.4 per cent in the public sector.

Company news

Please join us for Stocks of the Hour here. 

Australia's largest gambling company Tabcorp(ASX:TAH), recorded total revenue of $5,686 million, up 8.8 per cent from the prior year.

Domino’s Pizza (ASX:DMP) recorded total food sales of $3.74 billion for the period ending 30 Jun 2021 (FY21), up 14.6 per cent from the prior year.

Retail giant Coles (ASX:COL) reports a net profit after tax of $1,005 million for the period ending 30 Jun 2021 (FY21), up 7.5 per cent from the prior year.

CSL (ASX:CSL) reported net profit after tax of $2,375 billion, up 10 per cent from the prior year with revenue also up 10 per cent on a currency basis. 

Super Retail Group (ASX:SUL) reported total group sales of $3.45 billion for the period ending 30 Jun 2021, up 22 per cent from the prior year.

Futures

The Dow Jones futures are flat.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a rise of 3 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a rise of 22 points.
The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 15 points when the market next opens.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector was Real Estate Investment Trusts, up 1.9 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Materials, down 2.97 per cent.

The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Pro Medicus (ASX:PME), closing 15.7 per cent higher at $65.35. It was followed by shares in Domino’s Pizza Enterprises (ASX:DMP) and Domain Holdings Australia (ASX:DHG).

The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was BHP Group (ASX:BHP), closing 7.1 per cent lower at $47.70. It was followed by shares in Sims (ASX:SGM) and Bapcor (ASX:BAP).

Asian markets

Japan's Nikkei has gained 0.6 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has gained 0.7 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has gained 0.7 per cent.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1792.20 an ounce.
Iron ore is 1.7 per cent lower at US$160.75 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 3.1 per cent.
Light crude is trading $0.22 higher at US$66.56 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 72.64 US cents.

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