ASX large caps roundup 22 Aug 2022. Picture Getty
ASX Large Caps: Investors’ confidence dips as China cuts rates again to shore up ailing economy
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- The ASX fell 1pc on Monday
- China cut its loan prime rate
- ASX earnings season continues for large caps
The ASX 200 index started the week 1% lower with a selloff in all 11 sectors. Movement in the local market has tracked Friday’s bearish tone on Wall Street where US stocks fell across the board.
Rates sensitive stocks fell today with Consumer, Tech and Real Estate the main laggards.
Local investors are increasingly concerned about China’s economic woes after the People’s Bank trimmed its 5-year loan prime rate to 4.30% from 4.45% earlier today. The Chinese central bank also cut its 1 year- loan prime rate to 3.65% from 3.70%.
It’s an encouraging development, but points to an ailing economy where the more positive step would be for China to open up quickly by changing its Covid policies.
Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, told Bloomberg the recent policy actions “are clearly more aggressive than before.”
“Authorities (in China) are aware the stress build-up [in the property sector] imposes quite high macro risk, so they need to take action quickly and aggressively to address those problems.”
The yuan slipped to its lowest in two years after the news, while the AUD slumped another 3% to trade below US69c.
In other news the Qantas website crashed temporarily on Monday after frequent flyer members rushed to redeem their $50 “apology” voucher, leaving many furious. The QAN share price tumbled 1.7% today.
The ASX earnings season continues, and today we saw results from Ampol, Adbri and Austal among many other names.
Ampol (ASX:ALD) was up 2% after announcing a 114% increase in full year NPAT to $695.9 million. But what got investors excited was its interim dividend of $1.20 per share, fully franked. It was a massive increase of 130% from last year’s dividend.
BIG CAP WINNERS
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| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NHF | NIB Holdings Limited | 7.825 | 8% | 1,236,446 | $3,337,691,671 |
| PLS | Pilbara Min Ltd | 3.18 | 4% | 20,665,964 | $9,079,387,571 |
| VNT | Ventiaservicesgroup | 2.885 | 3% | 630,229 | $2,395,356,446 |
| PNV | Polynovo Limited | 2.045 | 3% | 1,349,152 | $1,313,450,767 |
| YAL | Yancoal Aust Ltd | 5.86 | 3% | 2,833,920 | $7,513,300,397 |
| KLS | Kelsian Group Ltd | 6.545 | 3% | 197,865 | $1,391,201,936 |
| ALD | Ampol Limited | 35.01 | 3% | 698,667 | $8,135,633,660 |
| WHC | Whitehaven Coal | 7.535 | 2% | 9,524,287 | $7,038,159,359 |
| MAQ | Macquarie Telecom | 71.08 | 2% | 36,644 | $1,498,786,752 |
| TLX | Telix Pharmaceutical | 6.47 | 2% | 1,023,523 | $1,980,760,439 |
| CNU | Chorus Limited | 7.14 | 2% | 222,292 | $3,125,587,080 |
| SYA | Sayona Mining Ltd | 0.275 | 2% | 55,677,484 | $2,240,671,462 |
| VEA | Viva Energy Group | 2.82 | 2% | 2,504,420 | $4,297,628,580 |
| MPL | Medibank Private Ltd | 3.715 | 2% | 5,694,879 | $10,052,111,826 |
EML Payments (ASX:EML) rallied 10% after reporting a 21% growth in revenue for the full year to $$234m. The company’s underlying NPAT dropped 1% to $32m, but CEO Emma Shand says the company’s underlying business is very strong and that EML would look at introducing new services.
NIB Holdings (ASX:NHF) rose 6% after reporting an underlying operating profit $235.3 million, up 14.8% on pcp. Net profit after tax was $133.8 million, down 16.6%, principally due to investment losses.
BIG CAP LOSERS
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| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Adbri Limited | 2.21 | -17% | 5498949 | $17,281,934,829 |
| MFG | Magellan Fin Grp Ltd | 12.94 | -10% | 4074305 | $8,771,440,305 |
| 5EA | 5Eadvanced | 2.235 | -9% | 2341451 | $4,758,077,471 |
| RMS | Ramelius Resources | 0.8975 | -7% | 176913 | $4,321,533,237 |
| PGH | Pact Group Hldgs Ltd | 1.675 | -8% | 11446701 | $3,563,327,390 |
| RWC | Reliance Worldwide | 4.225 | -6% | 1977742 | $3,375,450,562 |
| SQ2 | Block | 107.65 | -6% | 549146 | $3,113,594,479 |
| DEG | De Grey Mining | 0.9 | -6% | 2042356 | $2,670,832,452 |
| SLX | Silex Systems | 3.14 | -6% | 1803379 | $2,362,397,752 |
| LYC | Lynas Rare Earths | 9.175 | -6% | 353489 | $1,927,241,935 |
| BLD | Boral Limited | 2.9 | -5% | 6872653 | $1,735,989,296 |
| BOE | Boss Energy Ltd | 2.31 | -5% | 840749 | $1,469,104,481 |
| 360 | Life360 Inc. | 5.355 | -5% | 3848547 | $1,354,241,094 |
| ZIP | ZIP Co Ltd.. | 0.99 | -5% | 1401946 | $1,048,651,203 |
| DYL | Deep Yellow Limited | 0.705 | -5% | 2729421 | $999,818,127 |
Adbri (ASX:ABC) lost 16% after reporting a revenue increase to $812.4 million, up 8% on pcp. Statutory NPAT decreased 15.0% to $48.1 million.
Regarding its outlook guidance, Adbri commented: “The current uncertain economic and operating environment makes it difficult to provide quantitative guidance at this time. “
The Star Entertainment Group (ASX:SGR) lost 4% after reporting a normalised net loss of $32m, and statutory net loss of $199m for FY22.
The company also released a statement to the ASX saying that it has no comments regarding the review of The Star’s casino operations in Queensland.
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