AU Morning Wrap: ASX Falls for Fourth Day; Bank Shares Drop
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• US stocks fall on renewed banking fears, Apple tops earnings expectations
• ASX falls for a fourth day
• Stocks to watch: ANZ, National Australia Bank, Block
- Moomoo News AU
• US stocks fall on renewed banking fears, Apple tops earnings expectations
• ASX falls for a fourth day
• Stocks to watch: ANZ, National Australia Bank, Block
- Moomoo News AU
Wall Street Summary
U.S. stocks fell while government bonds and gold rallied Thursday, reflecting persistent anxieties on Wall Street about regional banks and the economic outlook.
The $SPX Technologies(SPXC.US$ slipped 0.7% while the $Dow Jones Industrial Average(.DJI.US$ declined 0.9%, or nearly 287 points, and the $Nasdaq Composite Index(.IXIC.US$ lost 0.5%.
Nearly two months after Silicon Valley Bank's collapse, worries about potential bank failures continued to grip the market. Investors also assessed the fallout from Wednesday's Federal Reserve meeting.
AU Market Watch
The Australian sharemarket opened lower for a fourth day of losses, led by sell-off in banks after ANZ flagged margin pressure and the rout in US regional lenders continued overnight.
ANZ lost 2.1 per cent to $22.96 after chief executive Shayne Elliott warned "the next six months will be more difficult than the last" given intense competition across the sector.
$National Australia Bank Ltd(NAB.AU$ fell 3.1 per cent to $25.98, extending yesterday's 6.4 per cent slump, and $CommBank(CBA.AU$ was 1.1 per cent lower to $94.73. Macquarie's shares were off just 0.9 per cent to $176.22 after the investment bank posted record profit.
Financials were also under pressure after US regional banks including PacWest First Horizon and Western Alliance continued to sell off, adding to concern for a sector that's been rattled by the collapse of multiple firms. PacWest plunged 51 per cent.
Materials also weighed on the ASX, with $Rio Tinto Ltd(RIO.AU$ off 1.3 per cent to $108.67 and $Fortescue Ltd(FMG.AU$ down 1.9 per cent to $19.89.
Stocks to Watch
$ANZ Group Holdings Ltd(ANZ.AU$: ANZ reported $3.8 billion in cash profit in the first half of 2023 financial year, a 12 per cent increase from the previous six months. Return on equity rise 11.4 per cent, taking earnings per share to 127.6¢.
ANZ declared 81¢ in dividends, fully franked, which are 7¢ higher than the last six months.
Statutory profits slipped 1 per cent to $3.5 billion.
$Block Inc(SQ2.AU$: In a letter to shareholders detailing its first quarter results, Jack Dorsey-managed Block said it generated gross profit of $US1.71 billion, up 32 per cent year over year.
Cash App generated gross profit of $US931 million, up 49 per cent year over year, and Square generated gross profit of $US770 million, up 16 per cent year over year, it also said.
Block also said Cash App Card has continued to expand its reach and engagement: In March, there were 20 million monthly Cash App Card actives, up 34 per cent year over year, with average spend per active increasing as well.
$Macquarie Group Ltd(MQG.AU$: Macquarie Group net profit rose 10 per cent to $5.2 billion in fiscal 2023, from a year ago. The group said net profit for the September 2022 through March 2023 jumped 25 per cent.
International income accounted for 71 per cent of the group's total earnings in fiscal 2023.
Return on equity slipped to 16.9 per cent, from 18.7 per cent in fiscal 2022.
It declared a final ordinary dividend of $4.50 per share, of which 40 per cent will be franked), taking the dividend for fiscal 2023 to $7.50.
Annuity-style activities slumped 17 per cent to a combined net profit contribution of $4.1 billion.
$CommBank(CBA.AU$: Commonwealth Bank says it will pass on the Reserve Bank of Australia's 0.25 per cent cash rate increase to a number of its savings products and lift its home loan variable interest rates by the same amount from May 12.
The bank said its NetBank Saver 5-month introductory variable interest rate would rise to 4.5 per cent, Youthsaver with bonus interest rate would also lift to 4.5 per cent and its GoalSaver with bonus interest rate product would climb to 4.4 per cent.
Listing: None
Source: Dow Jones Newswires, AFR
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