ASX closes in green as BHP surges, tech shares slump

The Australian sharemarket moved higher on Tuesday, helped by a bumper half-year result from mining powerhouse BHP, while electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi also surged for the second day in a row.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed 21.80 points or 0.2 per cent higher, at 8958.90, with four sectors in positive territory, led by materials.

BHP, the second-largest stock on the market after Commonwealth Bank, surged 4.7 per cent after reporting a 28 per cent rise in half-year profit to $US5.64 billion ($8 billion), with copper becoming the mining giant’s biggest earner.

Fellow commodities heavyweight Rio Tinto rose 0.2 per cent, while Fortescue declined 0.5 per cent. Goldminers Northern Star (down 0.8 per cent), Evolution Mining (down 1.8 per cent) and Newmont (down 0.6 per cent) all lost ground, while silver major South32 rose 0.7 per cent.

The strongest performer among the large-cap stocks was JB Hi-Fi, which jumped 8.1 per cent, building on big gains sparked by its results on Monday. Tuesday’s surge came as UBS and Morgans upgraded their ratings on the electronics retailer.

Judo Bank gained 2.4 per cent after its profits rose to $59.9 million in the December half, an increase of 46 per cent from the same period a year earlier, as it continued to expand its business lending. Gross loans grew 15 per cent to $13.4 billion, while return on equity rose to 6.9 per cent, up from 5.5 per cent in the June half.

The big four banks were mixed, with Commonwealth Bank losing 0.1 per, National Australia Bank falling 0.4 per cent and ANZ Bank losing 0.7 per cent. Westpac edged 0.3 per cent higher and Macquarie Group gained 0.6 per cent.

Among the major energy stocks, Woodside Energy closed flat while Santos lost 0.4 per cent after a Federal Court case brought by an activist shareholder group accusing the oil and gas producer of making misleading claims about “clean energy” was dismissed.

Online employment company Seek’s venture capital arm has begun selling its stake in billion-dollar HR start-up Employment Hero, just weeks after the two companies settled an acrimonious competition dispute.

The relationship soured last July when Seek cut off Employment Hero’s access to its platform, claiming the start-up was misusing its data to poach jobseekers. Employment Hero sued, alleging anticompetitive conduct, but unexpectedly dropped the case in January, conceding Seek’s actions were not aimed at lessening competition.

The divestiture was disclosed alongside half-year results that showed Seek delivered net revenue of $601 million, up 11 per cent, while adjusted profit jumped 35 per cent to $104 million, prompting the ASX-listed jobs platform to upgrade full-year guidance to the top half of its original ranges. Seek shares fell 3.3 per cent.

Tech shares slumped to continue their recent rollercoaster ride. WiseTech fell 1.6 per cent, Xero lost 0.7 per cent and NextDC retreated 0.4 per cent.

Healthscope landlord, ASX-listed HCW, said it has yet to see details of the not-for-profit proposal announced recently but said it remained focused on “proactively progressing a resolution of the Healthscope situation”.

At its half-year results this morning, the property group said it would not be able to give future earnings guidance or recommence distributions to investors until the Healthscope situation was resolved. HCW’s share price has halved over the past two years as Healthscope headed towards financial collapse. HCW shares gained 4.5 per cent.

Baby Bunting jumped 8.6 per cent after recording total sales growth of 6.7 per cent and comparable store sales growth of 4.7 per cent and a 124-basis-point uplift in gross margins to 41 per cent, boosted by exclusive and private label brands, which now make up nearly half of its total sales.

The baby products retailer expects to complete six store refurbishments in the second half of the financial year and plans to open two new large-format stores.

Loss-making gourmet foods manufacturer Maggie Beer Holdings has signalled it is looking to sell its hampers business, which it acquired five years ago for $40 million.

In a trading update ahead of its half-year results, the premium food company said it was accelerating a strategic review of the Hamper & Gifts Australia business following “a number of unsolicited and non-binding approaches from external parties”. Maggie Beer Holdings share were unchanged at 7.7¢.

The Australian dollar was trading at US70.61¢ at 5pm AEDT.

Overnight, stocks and bonds posted small moves amid muted holiday trading after Friday’s benign US inflation data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year.

Futures on the S&P 500 were flat and Europe’s Stoxx 600 index gained 0.2 per cent.

Overnight, with the US observing the Presidents’ Day holiday and mainland China’s markets closed for Lunar New Year holidays, trading volumes were thin. Still, the path of US interest rates remains in focus following the slower-than-expected US inflation print as traders fully price a Fed cut in July and the strong chance of a move in June.

Traders will be watching for ADP private payrolls numbers on Tuesday and the minutes from the Fed’s January meeting on Wednesday for a fresh read on the economy.

Elsewhere, gold dipped below $US5000 an ounce as traders booked profits from a gain in the previous session.

Bitcoin fell 1.4 per cent to $US67,849 after posting its fourth consecutive weekly loss, with the cryptocurrency struggling to find clear direction as a weekend rally fizzled.

with Bloomberg

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