Last Orders: COVID outbreaks weigh on the ASX again

In the last 24 hours, Australia has gone from two to four states or territories at least partially in lockdown and it impacted on the ASX again.

The ASX 200 closed lower again though it was down by just 0.08% after recovering from the intraday lows it reached around 12pm amidst news about the latest Sydney case numbers and the Queensland lockdown. The ASX Emerging Companies Index fared worse, losing 0.65%.

Tech was the best performing sector with a 0.65% gain while the worst was utilities, which lost 1.26%.

Wall Street hit a new high, driven by tech stocks and with inflation fears of recent weeks a distant memory, while markets in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo retreated today.

Leading the ASX winners with major news was potash aspirant Reward Minerals (ASX: RWD), which became the fourth sulphate of potash developer to claim major project status.

ANNOUNCEMENTS YOU MAY’VE MISSED

Pot stock Elixinol (ASX:EXL) has called off the acquisition of German CBD company CannaCare. Elixinol said this occurred after completing due diligence and that it would reimbursed for costs incurred in the past three months since the deal was proposed.

In spite of the latest round of border closures today, airline Regional Express (ASX:REX) announced it is leasing another two 737s that will arrive in late August. The company says the new planes will help launch new routes which it will announce shortly.

Kathmandu (ASX:KMD) reported the latest COVID-19 restrictions would hit its earnings by $13 million. It previously tipped total sales for FY21 at $930 million and said prior to lockdowns, the company saw a positive start to the winter trading period.

Fast food franchise operator Collins Foods (ASX:CKF) meanwhile reported FY21 had been a good year for the company. It reported $1.07 billion in revenue and underlying earnings of $136.3 million – both up over 12 per cent from FY20.

Brookside Energy (ASX:BRK) announced that supermajor ExxonMobil would participate in the Jewell Drilling Spacing Unit in its SWISH Area of Interest. ExxonMobil’s subsidiary XTO Energy will hold a 4.5 per cent working interest and Brookside will keep a working interest of up to 87 per cent.

Under siege coal stock Montem Resources (ASX:MR1) saw some rare good news with its Tent Mountain Project now set to undergo a Federal Impact Assessment. The company says it now has clarity on the regulatory pathway to restart the mine but that it would likely delay the planned start date.