Pendal pops on 1H profit beat: ASX falls for 3rd straight day, tumbling 1.3% at noon

Market Reports

by Melissa Darmawan

Resources stocks are pulling the index lower for a third day as investors continue to sell out stocks on concerns around the impact of rising interest rates and the strained supply chain as China holds firm to its zero-Covid policy amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.

At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 1.3 per cent or 116 points lower at 7,005. The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 149 points.

The sell-off is across the board with investors stock picking on what to buy into, following several company updates.

PolyNovo (ASX:PNV) is the best performer after a regulatory filing showed that chairman David Williams picked up shares in the company, boosting investor optimism on the company's growth outlook, the stock is almost 19 per cent higher.

Imugene (ASX:IMU) is the second best performer after the clinical stage immuno-oncology company announced it has received Human Research Ethics Committee approval to commence a Phase 2 clinical trial of its immunotherapy candidate, HER-Vaxx in Australia.

On the flip side, AUB Group (ASX:AUB) is the worst performer after investors dump their positions on completing its institutional equity raising. The news follows their recently inked $880 million deal to buy UK based Tysers yesterday. With this placement completed, the retail component is set to start next Monday, 16 May with the aim to raise an additional $47 million.

Investment manager Pendal (ASX:PDL) jumped 6.1 per cent to $5.23 after its first-half profit rose 7.5 per cent, lifting its dividend 24 per cent with the help of the contribution of US-based subsidiary Thompson, Siegel & Walmsley. Net profit in the six months rose 7.5 per cent to $96.7 million from the year-earlier period, underlying profit grew 59 per cent to $131.4 million and fee revenue surged 30 per cent to $362.6 million.

Despite the tumble with the Nasdaq, there are a few local tech shares rallying with WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) up by 3.7 per cent to $40.52, Xero (ASX:XRO) gaining 2.6 per cent to $86.50 amid RBC upgrading the stock to outperform citing a survey showing signs of better conditions, and Iress (ASX:IRE) up 3.6 per cent to $10.98,

Other stock standouts include Suncorp (ASX:SUN) up 1.9 per cent to $11.50, and News Corp (ASX:NWS) rising 4.2 per cent.

Woodside Petroleum (ASX:WPL) is down 4.2 per cent at $30.24 while Beach Energy (ASX:BPT) is trading 6.3 per cent lower at $1.57. Shares in BHP Group (ASX:BHP) is weighing 3 per cent lower at $44.86.

The major banks are down between 0.4 per cent and 2.1 percent with the declines led by ANZ Banking Group (ASX:ANZ).

Best and worst performers

All sectors are in the red. The sector with the fewest losses is communication services, down 0.3 per cent. The worst-performing sector is energy, down 3.8 per cent.

The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is PolyNovo (ASX:PNV), trading 18.6 per cent higher at $1.10. It is followed by shares in Imugene (ASX:IMU) and Life360 (ASX:360).

The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is AUB Group (ASX:AUB), trading 12.3 per cent lower at $19.20. It is followed by shares in Block (ASX:SQ2) and Beach Energy (ASX:BPT).

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1855.20 an ounce.
Iron ore is 5.5 per cent lower at US$131.35 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 5.6 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 69.36 US cents.
 

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