Good morning and welcome to the Morning Outlook. I’m Rachael Jones reporting live from Kalkine
TV Sydney studio. The Australian share market is expected to start the week
on a muted note. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is likely to open
76 points or 1.1% lower on Monday morning. At the closing bell on Friday, the S&P/ASX 200 was almost
1 per cent or 71.2 points lower at 7217.3. Over the week, the ASX closed 1.4 per cent higher. The
best-performing sector on Friday was Materials, up 0.3 per cent. The worst-performing sector was
Information Technology, down 3.8 per cent. The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (ASX:URW), closing 6.5 per cent higher at
$5.60. The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was IDP Education (ASX:IEL),
closing 8.1 per cent lower at $28.53.
Bendigo and Adelaide bank report their net interest margin declined
14 basis points on the previous half reflecting the increase in their liquidity position,
fierce competition across most lending categories
and the continued strong consumer preference for fixed rate loans. Australia’s fifth-largest
retail bank, report Statutory net profit up 31.7 percent at $321.3 million.
Beach Petroleum grew net profits after tax 66 per cent to $212.9 million
for the six months to the end of December from the same period in the prior year,
following a surge in the price of oil. Revenue grew 10 per cent to $797.4 million,
helped along by higher realised prices and higher third-party sales, partly offset by lower
production volumes and higher FX rates. Production and financial guidance for FY22 remains unchanged.
The first Half of FY22 saw steady progress on Beach’s major growth projects in the Perth and
Victorian Otway basins, as well as the Kupe gas plant returning to nameplate capacity.
JB Hi-Fi today reports for the 6 months ending 31 December 2021 that total sales down 1.6% to $4.86
billion, but up 21.7% over a two-year period. Online sales up 62.6% to $1.1 billion. EBIT
down 9.1% to $420.5 million, but up 59.9% over a two-year period. Net profit after tax down 9.4%
to $287.9 million, but up 68.8% over a two-year period.
The Group has continued to invest in online and supply chain, including
upgrades to its websites and distribution centres and expanded delivery options.
Now it’s time for a short break – but stay tuned for more news
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Welcome back to the Morning Outlook report.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones fell 1.4%, the S&P 500 plunged 1.9%, and the NASDAQ sank 2.8% lower.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed 0.6% lower. The MSCI world equity index fell
1.49%. Emerging markets stocks fell 0.85%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside
Japan closed 0.73% lower, while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.42%. Oil prices ended up 3% at seven-year
highs as escalating fears of an invasion of Ukraine by Russia added to concerns over tight
global crude supplies. Brent crude futures settled US$3.03, or 3.3%, higher at US$94.44 a barrel. WTI
crude rose US$3.22, or 3.6%, to US$93.10 a barrel. Gold prices edged higher on inflation fears and
escalating Russia-Ukraine tensions. Gold futures settled up 0.3% at US$1,842.10. Spot gold prices
rose US$36.0077 or 1.97%, to US$1,862.58 an ounce. Meanwhile, Chinese iron ore futures fell over
8% late on Friday after the country's regulators and industry association issued warnings against
recent unusual price moves of the key steelmaking ingredient.
That’s all for our Morning Outlook report here on Kalkine TV. Have a great day trading
and stay tuned for more market updates and economic news live throughout the day.
This is Rachael Jones signing off for now.