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Though there have only been two deaths outside of mainland China, the spreading coronavirus is continuing to prove the impact it has on global markets.
Overnight, Wall Street hit fresh highs as it appeared the spread of the virus was slowing down. Aussie stocks were subsequently set up for their own fresh records this morning, but a report from the Chinese government today of a sharp rise in coronavirus cases quelled the flames and brought things to a sudden halt.
The ASX 200 indeed hit a fresh intraday high this morning, but by midday was only just above the grey line. At market close, the benchmark index had gained a shy 15 points and sat at 7103.20.
The virus news distracted investors from another day of relatively strong profit reports from some of our market’s biggest players.
Reports from most of our large energy stocks saw the sector close with some welcome green after oil prices have taken a beating this year.
Woodside reported over $500 million in profits over 2019, causing a morning surge in its share price. By market close, however, the energy giant followed trends and pared back its win to a 0.35 per cent decline. Nevertheless, Santos gained 0.1 per cent, Origin 2.21. per cent, and Oil Search 0.63 per cent.
After Commonwealth Bank’s half-year report saw finance have a hay-day yesterday, today saw the sector stay relatively calm. Our big four still gained, but the green was not repeated across the sector. NAB’s quarterly report saw the bank gain 1.38 per cent, while Westpac gained 0.63 per cent, Commonwealth 0.62 per cent, and ANZ 0.34 per cent.
Meanwhile, the materials sector declined slightly by the end of the day. Despite our biggest producers, BHP and Rio Tinto, gaining 0.36 per cent and 0.52 per cent, respectively, losses from Fortescue, Newscrest and Amcor offset the sector’s wins.
Amcor was the anchor of the big-caps, losing 3.36 per cent by market close, while Newcrest lost 1.73 per cent and Fortescue declined 0.63 per cent.
Even health care stocks, which have typically been the market’s best performers in the midst of the coronavirus jitters, only just closed green. Our market’s healthcare providers weighed the sector down today. Ramsay lost 0.61 per cent, Sonic 0.66 per cent, and Fisher and Paykel 1.18 per cent. Cochlear dragged things further down with a 2. per cent decline.
Of course, ever the show-off, biotech Giant CSL once again hit a new all-time high as it outperformed the sector and gained 0.83 per cent.
Our neighbours to the east shared the pain as all major Asian indexes were red when the ASX closed. The Asia Dow was down 0.28 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 0.17 per cent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 0.27 per cent.
China’s Shanghai Composite has been slowly taking back some ground after its heavy post-holiday freefall, but today couldn’t keep up the gains and eased 0.64 per cent.
As for our local currency, the Aussie dollar shaved off yesterday’s increase and then some. When the stock market closed, the dollar was 0.34 per cent down on the US dollar, buying US$0.6714, €0.6175, and £0.5184.
Today’s ups and downs
Kitchenware specialist Breville (ASX:BRG) was today’s standout for the current reporting season. In its latest half-year report, the company said it bolstered up its start-of-year inventory to deal with the pause in production from Chinese facilities during the country’s New Year celebrations, and this preemptive measure provided a buffer against adverse coronavirus production effects as collateral. The company gained a hefty 27.63 per cent and closed with shares worth $25.50 each.
Meanwhile, embattled financial services business AMP (ASX:AMP) declined 0.55 per cent after posting a $2.5 billion full-year loss. The loss is mostly attributed to some one-off costs as the business restructures itself in the light of scathing Hayne Royal Commission reports. However, even on an underlying basis, profits took a heavy hit.
