Stocks of interest at the close of trade on the ASX on Thursday, November 1:
BHP – BHP BILLITON – up 90 cents, or 2.79 per cent, to $33.11
BHP is returning $US10.4 billion to shareholders in the form of an off-market buyback and special dividend following the sale of its US onshore sale assets. It says a $US5.2 billion buyback will start immediately.
AMP – AMP LIMITED – up 17 cents, or 6.88 per cent, to $2.64
AMP shares also soared early on speculation Macquarie Group was eyeing a takeover, with stocks in the under-fire wealth manager up 8.9 per cent to $2.69.
CWN – CROWN RESORTS – down 25 cents, or two per cent, to $12.26
At Crown’s annual general meeting on Thursday it said revenue from main floor gaming for July 1 to October 28 was down 0.6 per cent on the prior corresponding period, while non-gaming revenue was up 3.5 per cent.
NAB – NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK – up 14 cents, or 0.56 per cent, to $25.35
NAB’s full-year profit dropped 14.2 per cent to $5.7 billion on restructuring costs and $360 million of customer remediation. The other three major lenders were down.
WOW – WOOLWORTHS GROUP – up 27 cents, or 0.95 per cent, to $28.70
Woolworths’ first-quarter food sales rose 1.8 per cent to $9.87 billion, with the supermarket giant blaming the removal of single-use plastic bags for the relatively modest increase.
WPL – WOODSIDE PETROLEUM – down 32 cents, or 0.92 per cent, to $34.53
CTX – CALTEX AUSTRALIA – down 29 cents, or 1.03 per cent, to $27.97
Energy stocks are down after oil prices posted the worst monthly performance since mid-2016 on evidence of rising global crude supply.
