The ASX200 index closed higher again on Wednesday, taking its winning streak to four days. Picture Getty
ASX Large Caps: Shares up four days in a row, Qantas chair quits, and BOQ sinks as profit tumbles
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- Shares up 0.7pc as traders hopeful hawkish Fed policy is over
- Qantas chair Richard Goyder quits
- China to unleash new stimulus according to reports
The ASX200 index rose +0.6% on Wednesday, taking its winning streak to four straight days.
All 11 sectors except for Healthcare finished higher as traders become more confident that the Fed is done with hiking rates. Mining, Industrials, and Discretionary sectors led today’s session.
The Aussie dollar has also bounced back to over US64c as the Fed softened its language, firming up at US64.25c at the time of writing.
The market was also buoyed after S&P Global Market Intelligence revised up its forecast of real US GDP growth for 2023 from 2.3% to 2.5%, and for 2024 from 1.5% to 1.6%.
However, the S&P revised up its near-term projections of Treasury yields, corporate bond rates, mortgage rates, and the US dollar, while revising down its near-term projection of equity valuations.
The biggest news today came from Qantas (ASX:QAN) after it announced that Chairman Richard Goyder will step down from the role next year. Goyder joins former CEO Alan Joyce, who is set to leave the airline in November.
Elsewhere in the region, Asian markets rose after China is said to be preparing for a new round of stimulus. The size of the package, which would be spent on infrastructure, could be as high as US$137bn, according to a report by Bloomberg.
BIG CAP WINNERS
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| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOE | Boss Energy Ltd | 4.59 | 6.00 | 1,960,869 | $1,528,202,332 |
| SNZ | Summerset Grp Hldgs | 9.75 | 5.75 | 506 | $2,160,074,342 |
| NEU | Neuren Pharmaceut. | 11.43 | 3.91 | 167,772 | $1,392,222,436 |
| CEN | Contact Energy Ltd | 7.57 | 3.70 | 6,355 | $1,852,841,463 |
| SQ2 | Block | 71.36 | 3.68 | 106,985 | $2,263,381,285 |
| PXA | Pexagroup | 11.30 | 3.67 | 192,272 | $1,933,121,246 |
| MAD | Mader Group Limited | 6.52 | 3.49 | 40,985 | $1,260,000,000 |
| GOZ | Growthpoint Property | 2.12 | 3.41 | 479,782 | $1,545,396,219 |
| QAN | Qantas Airways | 5.06 | 3.16 | 6,957,481 | $8,449,827,932 |
| LYC | Lynas Rare Earths | 6.69 | 3.08 | 1,284,086 | $6,060,462,446 |
| DMP | Domino Pizza Enterpr | 53.02 | 3.07 | 135,347 | $4,619,750,166 |
| NXT | Nextdc Limited | 12.83 | 2.72 | 714,276 | $6,428,700,397 |
| RDX | Redox Limited | 2.33 | 2.64 | 326,445 | $1,191,934,842 |
| HLS | Healius | 2.27 | 2.49 | 223,889 | $1,259,520,915 |
Insurance Australia Group (ASX:IAG) rose after confirming that it’s on track to achieve ‘low double digit’ gross written premium growth in FY24, and meet its insurance margin guidance in the range of 13.5 to 15.5%.
Telstra (ASX:TLS) rose after announcing the acquisition of cyber security firm Versent for $267.5 million to bolster its tech services segment, Telstra Purple.
BIG CAP LOSERS
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| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOQ | Bank of Queensland. | 5.37 | -7.18 | 10,981,180 | $3,798,716,751 |
| EMR | Emerald Res NL | 2.43 | -3.00 | 908,462 | $1,491,957,338 |
| RRL | Regis Resources | 1.57 | -2.80 | 3,148,347 | $1,216,095,481 |
| GMD | Genesis Minerals | 1.39 | -2.63 | 1,380,849 | $1,478,901,335 |
| RED | Red 5 Limited | 0.30 | -2.42 | 3,568,004 | $1,073,278,668 |
| 360 | Life360 Inc. | 8.38 | -2.33 | 437,936 | $1,721,033,852 |
| FBU | Fletcher Building | 4.46 | -2.30 | 640,430 | $3,570,678,798 |
| MFG | Magellan Fin Grp Ltd | 6.79 | -2.16 | 1,518,604 | $1,259,137,379 |
| BGL | Bellevue Gold Ltd | 1.42 | -2.07 | 1,193,297 | $1,659,738,082 |
| LLC | Lendlease Group | 6.91 | -1.99 | 1,890,881 | $4,861,907,341 |
| ZIM | Zimplats Holding Ltd | 22.30 | -1.81 | 3,179 | $2,444,451,009 |
| SGR | The Star Ent Grp | 0.61 | -1.61 | 4,707,735 | $1,577,660,673 |
| SIQ | Smartgrp Corporation | 8.12 | -1.58 | 181,653 | $1,095,902,519 |
| AX1 | Accent Group Ltd | 1.91 | -1.55 | 519,232 | $1,092,323,200 |
| CNI | Centuria Capital | 1.35 | -1.46 | 346,654 | $1,102,949,639 |
| NAN | Nanosonics Limited | 4.08 | -1.33 | 475,896 | $1,249,769,454 |
| GNC | GrainCorp Limited | 6.84 | -1.23 | 503,016 | $1,552,412,019 |
Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) fell 7% after reporting that its FY23 statutory profit after tax has declined by 70% to $124 million. This was however driven mainly by one-off costs, including $200 million impairment on goodwill and $35 million in restructuring costs from its simplification program.
CSL (ASX:CSL) slipped after warning about margin headwinds ahead. However, the healthcare company says growth in FY24 would be between 9-11% above FY23.
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