ASX Large Caps: Bank stocks rally as earnings season continues; Blackrock cuts ASX ETF fees

• A mixed bag of earnings reports drove the ASX slightly higher today
• Bluescope, NIB, A2 Milk, Bendigo Bank all reported their half year results today
• Blackrock to cut its management fees on ETFs

Bank stocks were the lone saviour on Monday as 10 out of 11 sectors on the ASX declined after a mixed bag of earnings reports.

Coal and lithium stocks were the main laggards, and at the close of trading, the benchmark ASX 200 index finished flattish.

Bank stocks rallied after Bendigo & Adelaide Bank (ASX:BEN) announced that its net interest margin for the half rose 19bp to 1.88%, along with a 23% increase in cash earnings after tax to $294.7 million. The BEN share price climbed 2%.

Other companies to report their half today include Bluescope Steel (ASX:BSL), which plunged 10% after reporting a 64% (or over $1 billion) drop in profit.

A2 Milk (ASX:A2M) also slipped almost 8% despite top and bottom lines increasing by double digits for the half.

The worst performing stock today was private health insurer NIB Holdings (ASX:NIB), which fell over 10% despite reporting a 13% increase in net profits.

Aside from earnings, this week will see the RBA releasing its Feb 7th meeting minutes on Tuesday, and US Fed releasing theirs on Wednesday.

“It’s been a tough week or so for RBA Governor Philip Lowe as he came under fire from Federal MPs over the current rate hike cycle,” said Josh Gilbert, market analyst at eToro.

“The minutes will most likely show how the board believes that interest rates have further to go to bring inflation back to target.”

The world’s biggest asset manager, BlackRock, is set to cut fees on two of its ASX-listed ETFs in a bid for a greater market share.

The iShares S&P/ASX 200 ETF (ASX:IOZ) will have a new management fee of 0.05% a year (down 44%); while iShares Core Composite Bond ETF (ASX:IAF) will have its fees cut by a third to 0.1% a year.

In other news, Alibaba’s Jack Ma has been spotted in Melbourne, but his itinerary remains unclear.

A note of of Goldman predicts a rebound in the MSCI China Index by the end of 2023. GS analysts believe the index will rise by 24% from current levels.

The US meanwhile, will be closed on Monday for President’s Day.

BIG CAP WINNERS

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Inghams (ASX:ING) surged 11%, rebounding from a 7% fall on Friday after it announced dividend payment dates.

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Property developer GPT Group (ASX:GPT) fell 1% after reporting a full year profit of $469.3 million and a dividend of 12.3 cents per share.