BHP surges higher to boost ASX; Tech shares slump; Santos case dismissed

The Australian sharemarket has made a solid start to the session, with BHP jumping on the back of a bumper half-year result.

The S&P/ASX 200 was up 38.4 points, or 0.4 per cent, at the open, with six of 11 industry sectors in positive territory, led by materials.

BHP surged 5.4 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 heavyweights Rio Tinto (up 0.4 per cent) and Fortescue (up 0.7 per cent) climbed in early trade while gold miners were mixed, with Northern Star adding 0.4 per cent and Evolution Mining 0.1 per cent lower. Silver major South32 jumped 2.3 per cent.

Judo Bank jumped 7 per cent in early trade 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 marginally higher in early trade, with Commonwealth Bank adding 0.2 per cent, ANZ Bank 0.2 per cent, National Australia Bank 0.1 per cent and Westpac 0.3 per cent.

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 were 1.6 per cent higher. Tech shares slumped to continue their recent rollercoaster ride. WiseTech fell 5 per cent, Xero lost 2.8 per cent and NextDC retreated 1.7 per cent.

Energy stocks dipped despite oil prices edging higher. Woodside Energy lost 0.1 per cent while Yancoal dipped 0.2 per cent. Santos was 0.6 per cent lower. On Tuesday morning, a Federal Court case brought by an activist shareholder group accusing Santos, the oil and gas producer, of making misleading claims about “clean energy” was dismissed.

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 last two years as Healthscope headed towards financial collapse. HCW shares were up 3 per cent in early trade.

Baby Bunting lifted 4.6 per cent at the open 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 eponymously named 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 price was unchanged at 7.7¢ after markets opened this morning.

The Australian dollar was trading at US70.72¢ at 10am 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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