Australian shares up slightly as CBA beats expectations

[Pelican Press 0]

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*********** shares up slightly as CBA beats expectations

The *********** share market has been creeping slightly higher as Commonwealth Bank, Suncorp, AGL and Computershare all delivered better-than-expected first-half earnings.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 6.2 points, or 0.07 per cent, at 8,490.2 at midday, on track for its second straight session of quiet trading. The broader All Ordinaries was up 5.3 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 8,756.9.

Overnight, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell told a US Senate committee that with the US job market strong and inflation still elevated, he and his colleagues “do not need to be in a hurry” to cut interest rates.

Gold prices eased after hitting a record high of more than $US2,900 an ounce on Tuesday, with the yellow metal changing hands at $US2,891 at midday.

Commonwealth Bank was up 1.1 per cent to $163.92, and had hit an intraday all-time high of $US164.39 after Australia’s largest company delivered a first-half cash profit of $5.1 billion, up two per cent from a year ago.

“Through supporting our customers and investing in our franchise, we have been able to deliver solid results for our shareholders, despite the weaker economic backdrop,” said chief executive Matt Comyn.

Suncorp was up 0.8 per cent to $20.52 after the insurance company announced it made $860 million in cash earnings in the six months to December 31, up from $660 million a year ago.

The results were supported by natural hazard insurance claims coming in at $503 million, $277 million below allowance.

AGL was up 2.6 per cent to $12.01 after the energy company posted a statutory profit of $97 million, while its underlying net profit dropped seven per cent to $373 million.

“We delivered a strong first-half result in line with expectations, driven by the flexibility of our generation fleet and its ability to capture higher realised electricity pricing,” said managing director and CEO Damien Nicks.

Computershare was the biggest gainer in the ASX200 at midday, up 14.2 per cent to an all-time high of $41.08 after the share registry platform hiked its dividend by 12.5 per cent while raising its guidance.

“It is pleasing to see the Computershare results demonstrate the momentum in our high-quality, capital-light business and the execution of our strategy to reduce complexity and increase returns,” said chief executive Stuart Irving.

Overall, five of the ASX’s 11 sectors were higher, and six were lower.

The biggest movers were technology, which had fallen 1.7 per cent, and industrials, which was up 1.6 per cent amid the Computershare results.

Two of the three other big four banks were higher, with Westpac up 1.1 per cent and NAB up 1.2 per cent. ANZ was basically flat.

In the heavyweight mining sector, BHP was down 0.3 per cent and Rio Tinto had dropped 1.1 per cent, while Fortescue was up 0.4 per cent.

As could be expected given gold prices, goldminers were lower. Northern Star had dropped 0.8 per cent and Newmont had dropped 2.1 per cent.

The *********** dollar meanwhile was back over 63 US cents for the first time in two-and-a-half weeks, buying 63.05 US cents, from 62.74 US cents at 5pm on Tuesday.

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