Good morning and welcome to the ASX at Breakfast.
I’m Rachael Jones reporting live from Kalkine TV Sydney studio.
(1)The Australian share market is likely to start the morning on a higher note,
as inflation slowed within the US, easing pressure on the Federal Reserve to lift rates aggressively.
According to the latest SPI Futures, the ASX 200 would open 58 points or 0.84% higher.
On Wednesday, the benchmark index ASX 200 closed 0.53% lower at 6,992.70 points.
Financial services company (2) AMP will return $1.1 billion in capital to shareholders. The
company reported net profit after tax on a statutory basis increased threefold to $481
million from $146 million in the same period a year ago, “predominately assisted by the gain
on sale of the infrastructure debt platform,” the company said. On an underlying basis,
net profit after tax fell by a quarter to $117 million for the half-year period.
(3) Telstra today increased its dividend for the first time in seven years. The Board resolved to
pay a fully-franked dividend of 8.5 cents per share, bringing the total dividend for
the year to 16.5 cents per share. The company reported profit of $1.8 billion for the year down
4.6 per cent with total income of $22 billion, that was down 4.7 per cent on the prior year.
Telstra CEO Andy Penn said Telstra’s T22 strategy had set the company up well to
manage through the current uncertain economic climate and created the foundation for growth.
Property company the (4) Mirvac Group today released its full-year result for the financial
year ended 30 June 2022, delivering a strong result ahead of guidance, with a statutory
profit of $906 million a $5m increase on FY21 and operating profit of $596 million. The residential
sales team delivered an outstanding result in FY22, particularly in light of the many challenges
faced, including weather and COVID-19-related delays, launching six major apartment projects
that will further contribute to our $1.6bn of pre-sales. The company will pay a 5.1¢
dividend per security, bringing its total distribution for the year to 10.2¢ per security.
Now it’s time for a short break – but stay tuned for more news set to effect the trading day.
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Welcome back to the ASX at breakfast report. Now looking at the global markets.
In the US, (5) the S&P 500 jumped 2.13%, the Dow Jones gained 1.63% and the NASDAQ
ended 2.89% higher on Wednesday. In Europe, the Stoxx 50 went up 0.91%,
the FTSE gained 0.25%, the CAC increased 0.52%, and the DAX ended 1.23% higher.
(6) Brent crude closed at US$97.40 per barrel, up 1.1%. Gold prices fell on weekday as hawkish
remarks from US Fed officers dampened hopes of a let-up in aggressive policy modification after
the inflation data. Gold had charged higher on top of the US$1,800 level before losing ground.
(7) Spot gold fell 0.11% to US$1,792.20 per ounce. Iron ore closed at US$111.50/T,
down 1.33% on Wednesday. Well, that’s all for our ASX at Breakfast 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.