Crude trades over $US80 a barrel as the US says Iran could attack Israel this week; Energy prices jump after Ukraine incursion into Russia: CSL to report.
The Australian sharemarket edged higher on Tuesday after another busy day of earnings, though a large slump in biotech giant CSL and recruitment platform Seek capped the advance.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.2 per cent, or 13.1 points, to 7826.8 on Tuesday, climbing for a third session as markets continue to stabilise after last week’s rout. The All Ordinaries also rose 0.2 per cent.
“While it is still very early days, earnings don’t appear to be falling off a cliff,” said Dominic Mlcek, portfolio manager at Infinity Asset Management.
“With solid cash flows, broadly healthy balance sheets and stable margins, companies should be well placed to continue to invest for future growth opportunities when central banks commence rate cuts.”
Seven of the 11 sectors on the ASX finished higher, led by financials and consumer stocks. Health was the biggest loser, falling 2.9 per cent, dragged lower by a 4.6 per cent slump in CSL shares to $294.78.
While CSL said it expected double-digit earnings growth for the next five years as its core blood products business surges, investors were spooked after it warned that the Swiss iron deficiency treatments company it bought for $17.8 billion only two years ago had lost ground over the past six months.
”It was a fair reaction given the implied downgrade to earnings expectations versus where the markets forecast was,” said Jason Kururangi, a portfolio manager with Milford, while adding that the guidance was broadly in line with his forecasts.
The fund manager is still positive on CSL because of its “good growth prospects” into 2026.
Online recruitment platform Seek was still the biggest laggard on the main index, tumbling 6.6 per cent to $20.66 after lower job ads in the Asia Pacific region hit its bottom line.
Stocks in focus
Building products group James Hardie slumped 2.9 per cent to $48.37 after flagging rising costs and high property prices had weakened demand in the domestic housing market.
Earnings before interest and tax dropped 11 per cent to $41.2 million in the three months ended June 30 for its Asia-Pacific division, dominated by Australia.
In contrast, wealth giant Challenger was among the top performers, climbing 6.5 per cent to $7.33 after reporting a big increase in normalised net profit in the 2024 fiscal year. Its shares closed at their highest in 18 months.
Temple & Webster soared 23.3 per cent to $11.71, the largest gain in two years, after the online retailer also posted bumper results.
Elsewhere on the ASX, an overnight jump in oil prices buoyed the energy sectors. Woodside rose 0.3 per cent to $25.50, Santos climbed 1.4 per cent to $7.73, and Beach Energy added 2.4 per cent to $1.28.
Brent prices climbed more than 3 per cent on Monday on expectations that a wider Middle Eastern conflict will tighten global crude oil supplies. Brent traded at $US81.65 at the end of the Sydney session.
The big four banks were also higher, led by ANZ which rose 1.6 per cent to $28.68 after UBS upgraded the shares to buy.
And Orora soared 19 per cent to $2.27 after a $3.3 billion approach by US private equity group Lone Star, which it rejected. The bottles and cans maker said the $2.55 a share bid “materially undervalues” the business.
