The S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) finished Friday trading 3.25% lower, following a modest sell-off overnight in the Dow Jones and NASDAQ 100 indices.
According to CommSec, the ASX’s worst performers today were:
- WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX:WTC) – down 11%
- Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX:HVN) – down 14%
- Afterpay Ltd (ASX:APT) – down 9%
- Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) – down 9%
- Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) – down 8%
If you consider your glass half-empty on Fridays, here’s a refreshing fact: as of the Aussie market’s close today, the ASX 200 is still priced 14.52% above its 52-week low.
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ASX 200 Recap
1. Afterpay
This week, Australia’s largest Buy Now, Pay Layer (BNPL) provider reported its 2020 half-year results to the market showing a 96% increase in total income to $220 million and a loss of $35.8 million.
The company said its growth was driven by a rise in sales being processed through the Afterpay payment ecosystem, which helped it collect more fees from retailers. Afterpay now has around 3.6 million users in the US market alone. Read more.
2. WiseTech Global
WiseTech Global was founded in 1994 by Richard White to provide software to the logistics sector.
Earlier this month, WiseTech shares fell 20% in a single day of trading after the company published its half-year financial report and provided a softer-than-expected full-year outlook.
“The predicted early 2020 recovery from the end of 2019 trade volume softness within the logistics industry (as a result of US-China trade war), was in effect in early January,” WiseTech CEO Richard White said.
“However, the unexpected outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) and the effective shutdown of China, a critical driver of the global manufacturing supply chain and a ~16% contributor to global GDP, is creating negative flow-on effects to manufacturing, slowing supply chains and economic trade across the world.” Click here to read more.
3. Harvey Norman
Harvey Norman Holdings is a major retailer that both operates company-run stores and also franchises Harvey Norman stores.
This morning, Australia’s leading furniture retailer released its latest batch of financial statements. While it appears to have achieved the analysts’ expectations for dividends, it would seem the market was again spooked by a cautious outlook, which — of course — mentioned the Coronavirus. You can read more here.
4 & 5: Northern Star Resources & Newcrest Mining
So much for gold being a safe haven for investors in the face of uncertainty! Two of Australia’s largest gold mining companies reported their half-year results earlier this month.
Newcrest reported a 3% increase in half-year revenue and a dividend of 7.5 cents per share, fully franked. A profit of $236 million was achieved thanks to a robust average selling price of gold ($US1,446 per ounce) and production of 1.1 million ounces, down 12% year over year.
Northern Star Resources shares initially opened up 2% after reporting its half-year results earlier this month. As we reported here, the company’s revenue came in at $826.9 million, up $193 million over the prior corresponding period. To reach that sales revenue result, Northern Star sold some 398,640 ounces of gold at an average selling price of $2,046 per ounce.
What’s going on with Coronavirus and the stock market?
If you’re looking around scratching your head and wondering what happened to the sharemarket this week, you’re not alone.
We published two pieces on the impact Coronavirus is having — and one explaining why it might be ok to be optimistic about the long-term outlook for the planet and society — and our financial markets. Read the following two articles:
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