End of Day Report – Tuesday 20 August: ASX 200 up 17 | Results the focus

ASX 200 limped along with a 17-point rally to 7997 (+0.2%). Results in focus again. Some good, some bad and some ugly. Banks were mixed with a capital update from ANZ, up 0.6% and CBA better by 0.3%. The Big Bank Basket is steady around $236.73. Insurers mixed, SUN up 3.1% and NWL better on results. REITs slipped, GMG down another 1.4%, as DXS fell 8.9% on write downs. The sector followed lower. Industrials mixed, BXB down 0.3%, CPU dropped 2.2% and ALL off 1.7% with gains in SVW and WOR after MND reported and rose 11.6%. Resources found some buyers, BHP bouncing off $40, up 1.3% and FMG attracting some media coverage on its virtues, up 1.5%. Gold miners mostly firmed as did uranium miners, DYL up 3.5% and EVN up 1.4%. Lithium still depressed; coal stocks took their cue from YAL with a fall of 14.5%. In corporate news, MAD fell 11.2% on some disappointment, good results from JDO, MND and RWC, with ANN bouncing nicely up 8.9% and ARB, no shocks here, up 5.2%. On the economic front, RBA minutes revealed nothing that we didn’t already know. Bullock & Co were more likely to raise but kept things on hold. Asian markets mixed, Japan up 1.1%, China and HK fell between 0.4-1.1%. 10Y yields steady at 3.95%. Dow Futures down 5 points. NASDAQ Futures up 28 points.

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