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What you need to know about the S&P/ASX 200 today

Global markets finished last week on another strong note with the S&P 500 up 1.7% on Friday and the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) remaining weaker but improving 0.5%.

There is a growing chorus of concerns about markets diverging from the dire position of the global economy, but perhaps also good reasons to ignore this. The S&P 500 has continued to be pushed higher by well-known technology names who are actually benefitting from the lockdown in various ways, think Amazon for online shopping, Microsoft for video conferencing, or Netflix for all that spare time. Importantly, the market benchmarks are only reflective of the big end of town, not the smaller businesses that are really doing it tough.

Governments around the world began the process of restarting economies, with Australia seemingly among the most cautious despite being one of the best-performing in the world. This is providing well-needed relief for nervous investors.

The UK economy is expected to sink over 25% in the three months to June, the steepest fall since 1706, taking the total reduction down 14% before an expected growth rate of 15% in 2021. Only time will tell.

In the US, the country reported the largest monthly deficit in history, $737 billion, as tax revenues fell and spending accelerated to offset the impending weakness.

Interestingly, the Perth Airport is now arguing with Qantas over the non-payment of leases, which may be a sign of extended problems for infrastructure assets, particularly as domestic travel remains under wraps until July.

Friday saw investment bank Macquarie Group report its half-yearly result, and despite a 3.4% drop in revenue to $12.3 billion the company remains in good shape. CEO Shemara Wikramanayake remained cautious, but with some optimism on the other side of this when presenting the result.

Macquarie cut its dividend by 50% to allow for future opportunities and highlighted an expected delay in asset realisations and performance fees on pending asset sales. They noting their commodity hedging and oil storage units are doing incredibly well given the issues in the oil market and that they have $7 bn in excess capital ready to deploy. It was rumoured that Link’s PEXA settlement platform maybe once again looking to float, whilst Orora Group, which makes glass bottles and packaging, announced it would be returning $600 million from the $1.2 billion sale of its Fibre division to investors in the form of a capital return, saving the rest for opportunities.

This report was written by Drew Meredith, Director of Wattle Partners.

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The Golden Rules of Investing

We might be experts in retirement, but with combined financial advice experience of 35+ years, we’ve nearly seen it all. 

In mid-2023, our senior team at Wattle Partners Financial Planning put the finishing touches on a brand-new report “The Golden Rules of Investing“.

In this free report, we outline the key principles that determine all of the portfolio construction and investment decisions of Wattle Partners. Collated over decades, this paper should be seen as a work-in-progress, constantly under review in light of the ever-evolving nature of markets. 

You’ll find the free report on my Author page. Simply click the button below to view the Golden Rules.

Information warning: The information on this website is published by The Rask Group Pty Ltd (ABN: 36 622 810 995) is limited to factual information or (at most) general financial advice only. That means, the information and advice does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not specific to you, your needs, goals or objectives. Because of that, you should consider if the advice is appropriate to you and your needs, before acting on the information. If you don’t know what your needs are, you should consult a trusted and licensed financial adviser who can provide you with personal financial product advice. In addition, you should obtain and read the product disclosure statement (PDS) before making a decision to acquire a financial product. Please read our Terms and Conditions and Financial Services Guide before using this website. The Rask Group Pty Ltd is a Corporate Authorised Representative (#1280930) of AFSL #383169.


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Wattle Partners is a financial advice firm, servicing clients around Australia, specialising in retirement planning (pre and post retirement). 

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