Episode Details

The ASX 200 rose 30 points to 9,084 (0.3%), although early gains petered out as the banking sector once again came under pressure. The Big Bank Basket fell to $265.70 . CBA was down 2.7%, ANZ fell 1.6%, and the insurance sector was also faring badly, with QBE down 3.9%, SUN down 2.3%, and MPL, which reported today, down 6.4%.

Other financials did better, with ASX up 0.3% and ZIP having a cracker of a day, up 18.2%, on better-than-anticipated results. REITs also rose as yields came off on the back of intervention in the US Treasury market, with VCX up 3.2% and SGP up 2.4%, although GMG fell 1.5% following its results.

Healthcare was once again a sector in the green, with CSL pushing ahead 2.8% and RMD also up 2.8%, while PME did well, rising 3.6%. We saw gains in the technology sector too, with XRO up 2.4% and WTC bouncing back from yesterday's big sell-off to rise 9.1%. Other tech stocks also rose, with CDA having a cracker of a day, hitting record highs and rising 12.4%. MP1 announced another capital raising and fell 5.1%. Retail stocks were generally better, following some good results, with LOV up x%.

The big gains, though, were in the resources sector, with BHP up 3.2%, RIO up 1.8%, and the gold miners doing very well on the back of the explosion in the bullion price. NST rose 6.2%, EVN gained10.2%, with copper still trading close to record highs. GMD also rose 10.3%, while lithium stocks were slightly firmer, as were uranium stocks.

In corporate news, IEL plunged 20.7% after a slump in net profit and an 11% drop in revenue. SUL surged 15.1% after beating expectations, while MPL fell hard after membership growth slowed. BXB slipped slightly after its pallets business was affected by the World Cup, while MGH had a good day, rising 9.0%, with profits beating expectations. On the economic front, jobs fell by 15,800 in July following an upwards revision to 80,200 workers for June. The unemployment rate rose to 4.5%. 

Asian markets were better, with Japan up 1.4%, Hong Kong up 1.2%, China flat, and US futures were narrowly mixed, with the Dow up 18 points and the Nasdaq up 103. European markets poised to open better. Gold flying.

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