• The ASX closed flattish on Thursday
  • Medibank reported suspected network breach
  • Key US inflation report awaits

 

The ASX 200 index closed flat on Thursday with gains in Financials offsetting losses in Real Estate stocks.

Banks once again caught a bid as the big four rose by around 2% each.

Investors have been buying bank shares since Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) released its FY22 results yesterday where it reported a 15% increase of NPAT to $426 million.

Trading in Medibank Private (ASX:MPL) shares has been suspended since the opening bell as the company reported a cyber incident.

Medibank says it detected unusual activity on its network, but at this stage believes there is no evidence that any sensitive data, including customer data, has been accessed.

“We are working around the clock to understand the full nature of the incident, and any additional impact this incident may have on our customers, our people and our broader ecosystem,” said CEO David Koczkar in a statement .

Qantas (ASX:QAN) was the best performing stock as the airline issued a surprise half year guidance.

The airline says it expects underlying profit before tax of between $1.2bn – $1.3bn in the first half of FY23, which is almost as much as the market was assuming it would make for the full year.

Qantas also expects its net debt to fall to between $3.2 billion and $3.4 billion at 31 December, which is below the bottom of the target range of $3.9 billion.

The RBA’s New Payments Platform system crashed this morning, causing a 4-hour bank payment transfer outage across Australia.

The Osko payment system, which operates on the NPP, was introduced to allow online bank transfers around the clock.

“The issue has now been contained,” the RBA said. “Impacted external services are now operational however there has been some delay to overnight processing of payments.”

Looking ahead, it will be a big session on Wall Street tonight  as the US releases its inflation report for September.

The market consensus is for a headline number of 8.1%, and anything higher could impact the markets adversely.

BIG CAP WINNERS

Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort.

Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap
QAN Qantas Airways 5.6 8% 24,077,779 $9,750,851,089
ZIM Zimplats Holding Ltd 25.96 7% 16,416 $2,620,976,753
JDO Judo Cap Holdings 1.255 5% 3,193,872 $1,315,568,648
TLX Telix Pharmaceutical 5.33 4% 749,511 $1,609,374,812
WBC Westpac Banking Corp 23.14 3% 9,469,817 $78,460,271,623
AIZ Air New Zealand 0.665 3% 1,979,163 $2,172,659,483
CEN Contact Energy Ltd 6.47 3% 1,719 $1,570,197,475
SQ2 Block 89.58 3% 86,603 $3,236,157,453
GOR Gold Road Res Ltd 1.3 3% 1,457,606 $1,361,054,357
NAB National Aust. Bank 30.65 3% 6,278,813 $94,235,939,312
OBL Omni Bridgeway Ltd 4.06 3% 209,610 $1,074,775,795
MFG Magellan Fin Grp Ltd 10.68 2% 724,136 $1,911,890,734
WAF West African Res Ltd 1.045 2% 1,269,514 $1,041,473,060
JBH JB Hi-Fi Limited 40.38 2% 429,693 $4,309,945,531
RRL Regis Resources 1.5975 2% 1,439,857 $1,177,840,443
Wordpress Table Plugin

The Star Entertainment Group (ASX:SGR) rose almost 2% as it announced that Robert Cooke will commence in his role as CEO on Monday, 17 October.

Marine transport service tour provider Kelsian Group (ASX:KLS) surged 7% after the Qantas announcement.

BIG CAP LOSERS

Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort.

Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap
CEN Contact Energy Ltd 7.18 -10.25 18,057 $2,036,369,872
CTT Cettire 3.07 -8.51 2,376,132 $1,277,148,037
LTR Liontown Resources 1.25 -8.09 18,722,621 $3,285,526,258
CMM Capricorn Metals 4.47 -8.02 2,609,627 $1,827,156,731
PLS Pilbara Min Ltd 3.28 -7.08 49,752,832 $10,623,403,190
MMS McMillan Shakespeare 16.89 -6.74 181,568 $1,261,235,165
EMR Emerald Res NL 2.70 -6.25 1,551,126 $1,794,427,857
LFG Liberty Fin Group 3.85 -6.10 6,307 $1,245,595,879
IGO IGO Limited 7.56 -5.85 4,481,363 $6,080,860,538
RMS Ramelius Resources 1.66 -5.43 3,687,423 $1,989,363,213
MCY Mercury NZ Limited 5.70 -5.00 6,443 $8,347,363,434
SLR Silver Lake Resource 1.09 -5.00 3,980,280 $1,074,955,983
PRU Perseus Mining Ltd 1.94 -4.68 5,359,813 $2,788,334,831
IFL Insignia Financial 2.07 -4.61 2,380,436 $1,446,580,054
RED Red 5 Limited 0.36 -4.61 12,116,319 $1,315,631,915
MIN Mineral Resources. 57.35 -4.29 908,699 $11,695,570,766
NST Northern Star 12.36 -4.19 2,418,019 $14,824,952,396
Wordpress Table Plugin

NIB Holdings (ASX:NIB) fell 12% after completing its fully underwritten $135 million institutional placement.

Most lithium stocks were sold today with Allkem (ASX:AKE) and Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) falling by 4%.