The Australian sharemarket edged lower on Monday, ending the 3-day winning streak. The S&P/ASX 200 index fell by 19 points or 0.25 per cent to 7539 points.
In overseas markets on Friday, key indexes in the US were weaker as investors digested strong jobs and earnings results. The Dow and the S&P 500 both fell 0.4 per cent and 1 per cent respectively, and the Nasdaq fell by 1.4 per cent. European sharemarkets were higher, with the European FTSEurofirst index up 0.5 per cent.
Turning to Australia, we saw 4 of 12 industry sectors posted gains. The energy sector was the best performer today, rising by 0.92 per cent, followed by materials up 0.32 per cent. Property trusts was the worst performing sector, dropping by 1.94 per cent.
Newcrest Mining (NCM) closed at $24.53, up 9.3 per cent after hitting a high of $25.68 just after market open, following an announcement of a non-binding indicative takeover offer by Newmont. If the proposal is accepted, shareholders will receive 0.38 shares in Newmont for every Newcrest shareholding.
Beach Energy (BPT) jumped 3.7 per cent after reaching an agreement with Webuild for its joint venture on the Waitsia project, targeting first gas by end of 2023 and updating its capital expenditure from $350-400m to $400-450m.
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Retailer Nick Scali (NCK) dropped 13 per cent to $10.80 despite announcing a 70 per cent increase in net profit after tax and record deliveries. Guidance for the second half of 2023 financial year wasn’t provided, stating “at this point it is difficult to provide further guidance”. Results will depend upon trading during February to April.
Fund manager Magellan (MFG) closed flat at $9.23 after posting growth in funds under management from $45.3 billion to $46.2 billion from December 2022 to January 2023.
On Monday, 3.8 billion shares were traded, worth $6.6 billion. Overall 491 stocks rose over the session, while 909 fell and 413 finished unchanged.
Looking forward in Australia, tomorrow at 2:30pm Sydney time the Reserve Bank Board meeting will take place, where a 25 basis point hike is widely expected. In the US, December trade balance and consumer credit numbers will be released.
Originally published by Steven Daghlian – Market Analyst (Author), CommSec
