The S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) managed another small gain on Thursday, adding 0.3%, powered ahead by the technology sector once again. Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) added 3.5% and 2.5%, respectively.
With half the sectors down, it was the consumer businesses that were the biggest detractor, while shares in both Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) hit new 12-month highs.
CBA share price
Woolworths disappoints
Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) made headlines, falling 3.9% after delivering lacklustre third quarter sales figures.
Investors had been pre-warned that the cycling of 2020 lockdown comparables would be difficult to match, yet Woolies’ food sales still managed to reach $11.1 billion in the quarter, a drop of just 0.7%.
Total sales for the quarter were actually 0.4% higher, reaching $16.6 billion as liquor sales continue to recover and hotels begin to reopen at capacity.
Big W remains the unexpected highlight, sales jumping 18.3% to $1 billion, benefitting from the work-from-home upgrades spreading across the economy.
According to management, the group remains on track for the demerger of the hotels and liquor business this financial year.
Property recovery underway
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (ASX: URW) remains heavily impacted by the pandemic, evidencing how long the recovery is likely to be.
The company reported that it had 42 days of restricted trading during the quarter compared to 13 days in 2020, with 0 days of normal trading.
The result was turnover dropping 42% to $452 million from €790 million and gross rental dropping 34%; URW shares dropped 4.5% on the news.
IOOF outflows continue
After responding to ASIC’s remediation report earlier this week, IOOF Holdings Limited (ASX: IFL) shares finished flat despite seeing net outflows across most of its key businesses.
$1.4 billion left its financial advice business as advisers continued to depart, investment management fell $507 million and pensions and investments were down $782 million.
Market movements were able to add $5.4 billion in total assets under management. The group continues its march to become the top, large corporate financial advice firm in the country.
Fortescue Metals reports
Iron ore major Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) released a third-quarter update, revealing another big quarter.
The mining giant shipped 42.3 million wet metric tonnes (wmt) of iron ore for the quarter, while average revenue was US$143.12 per dry metric tonne (dmt), an increase of 17% over the previous quarter.
The strong iron ore price continues to push the Fortescue share price higher, finishing flat for the day but nearly doubling over the last year.
ASX 200 today
The ASX 200 is tipped to open lower on Friday despite a positive lead from US markets overnight. To find out more, check out Rask Media’s US stock market report.
