CommSec Daily Report s Evening Report | 18 August 2020 Latest news Latest Prices 4.30pm AEST Level Previous % chg Aussie shares pushed higher this afternoon, with the ASX 200 All Ords 6,268.7 6,218.5 0.8 lifting by 47pts or 0.77 per cent to 6,123.4. This was roughly enough ASX 200 6,123.4 6,076.4 0.8 to recoup Monday’s losses and keeps the market just ~1.2 per cent Shanghai 3,436.5 3,438.8 -0.1 away from a five-month high. The ASX 200 has struggled to crack Japan Nikkei 23,051.1 23,096.8 -0.2 6,200pts on three occasions over the past two months. A further decline in COVID-19 cases in Victoria and NSW, encouraging signs US Dow Jones 27,844.9 27,931.0 -0.3 for a coronavirus vaccine and better company profit results could US Nasdaq 11,129.7 11,129.7 0.0 help in coming weeks. UK FTSE 6,127.4 6,090.0 0.6 The market was kept positive thanks to strong gains from most Dow Futures 27,751.0 27,775.0 -0.1 miners, healthcare stocks, technology and consumer discretionary. Both Wesfarmers (WES), which owns Bunnings and online retailer Last Previous % chg Kogan.com (KGN) hit record highs today. The banks also bounced Consumer Discretionary 2,634.8 2,601.8 1.3 off intraday lows, which prevented the financials from dragging the Consumer Staples 13,338.3 13,458.7 -0.9 market lower. Energy 7,459.4 7,458.2 0.0 Financials 4,771.1 4,797.5 -0.6 Three companies did hold the ASX 200 back however: Westpac Financial-x-A-REIT 5,321.3 5,350.9 -0.6 (WBC), ANZ and Treasury Wine Estates (TWE). Westpac (WBC) Health Care 43,637.9 41,866.4 4.2 lost 2.3 per cent after deciding to scrap its interim dividend which it Industrials 5,655.9 5,591.4 1.2 usually pays to investors in June or July. WBC deferred the Information Tech 1,741.9 1,705.5 2.1 decision a couple of months ago due to COVID-19 uncertainty, Materials 14,752.0 14,630.4 0.8 however CBA set the tone last week by declaring a 98c dividend. ASX200 A-REIT 1,262.3 1,259.4 0.2 WBC handed down a $1.32bn cash profit between April and June, Telecommunications 1,166.9 1,156.9 0.9 which was mostly driven by lower than expected bad and doubt Utilities 7,545.6 7,501.2 0.6 debts in the quarter. ANZ also fell by 1 per cent today ahead of its quarterly result which is due tomorrow. Last Day Move % chg Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) finished 14.3 per cent lower on BHP $39.65 -$0.21 -0.5 media reports suggesting China has kicked off a probe into the RIO $101.99 $1.11 1.1 alleged dumping of Australian wine into the Chinese market. CBA $70.48 -$0.28 -0.4 ANZ $18.07 -$0.19 -1.0 BHP fell by 0.5 per cent after handing down an underwhelming set NAB $17.61 -$0.14 -0.8 of full year results. Net profit fell by 4 per cent to US$7.95bn (almost WBC $17.18 -$0.41 -2.3 US$400 below Bloomberg consensus). The final dividend of TLS $3.06 $0.01 0.3 US$0.55 was a 30 per cent decline on last year. BHP was helped WOW $40.20 $0.34 0.9 by a lift in the iron ore price, which was the most significant WES $48.11 $0.63 1.3 contributor to its revenue and profit. WPL $20.37 $0.00 0.0 CSL $293.29 $12.27 4.4 Cochlear (COH) rose by 9.8 per cent despite the hearing implant COH $217.74 $19.44 9.8 maker posting a 6 per cent fall in revenue, a 7 per cent hit to the NCM $34.71 $0.59 1.7 number of implant units sold and a $238.3m loss. Sales fell mostly in the 2H due to surgery deferrals while the net loss was mainly due Current Aust 4pm % chg to a $416.3m hit relating to a patent litigation expense against a US AUD/USD 0.7227 0.7215 0.17 company. AUD/EUR 0.6078 0.6077 0.00 AUD/JPY 76.242 76.481 -0.31 Tonight, data on the US housing market will be released for July. Tomorrow, ANZ will released a quarterly update. A2 Milk (A2M), CSL, Crown Resorts (CWN), Domino’s (DMP), Invocare (IVC), 11am Official Cash 0.25 0.50 -50.00 Wisetech (WTC) and Vocus (VOC) will be just some of the Aust 90 day futures 0.10 0.10 0.00 companies set to post results. Oil Nymex ($US/b) US Close 42.63 42.89 0.0 Gold futures($US/oz) US Close 2014.40 1998.70 -0.1 6.3bn shares were traded on Tuesday, worth a heavy $9bn. 788 stocks rose, 479 fell and 359 finished unchanged. Steven Daghlian - Market Analyst (Author) Twitter: @commsec This report provides general commentary on domestic economic themes and is produced by the Commonwealth Securities Limited (CommSec) Chief Economist. It is not intended to be an investment research report. This report has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not to be construed as a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any securities or financial instruments, or as a recommendation and/or investment advice. 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