The S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) followed Wall Street lower on Thursday, falling 0.9%, after higher than expected inflation figures spooked investors.
Short-term traders are increasingly betting that the Federal Reserve will be forced to increase interest rates earlier than expected, suggesting long-term growth companies will be worth less as a result.
The selling pressure remained in the IT sector, which fell 4.7%, whilst healthcare was a rare winner, adding 1.0% behind CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) which was 1.0% higher, benefitting from a weaker AUD.
Graincorp beats expectations
GrainCorp Ltd (ASX: GNC) jumped 5.2% after reporting an improved first-half profit and upgrading expectations for the full year. Earnings were almost 40% higher, hitting $140 million whilst net profit increased from $27 million to $51 million.
The result, driven by strong grain crops and growing exports, was enough to see the dividend returned at 8 cents per share.
Perenti share price sinks
Small-cap favourite Perenti Global Ltd (ASX: PRN), which provides services to the mining sector, fell 29.2% after announcing a shortage of labour and stronger AUD had impacted margins, which would see second-half earnings below the first half.
Orica profit halves
Explosives producer Orica Ltd (ASX: ORI) hasn’t been able to leverage an incredible rally in commodity prices into higher profits, declaring a 53.6% fall in first-half profit to just $76.7 million.
The weak result came after revenue declined by 8.9% to $2.6 billion with the CEO noting that three key factors, being a stronger AUD, geopolitical issues in the US and China and COVID-19 disruptions, had impacted both production and sales.
Orica shares fell just 0.6% on the news despite a significant cut in the dividend to 7.5 cents per share.
Xero investors demanding faster growth
New Zealand’s homegrown tech leader Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) continues to have success in monetising its world-leading accounting platform.
Handing in full-year FY21 results, Xero reported an 18% increase in revenue to NZ$848 million with net profit increasing fivefold to NZ$19.8 million.
Earnings, a more accurate measure given the significant ongoing expenditure to improve its online platform, jumped 39% to NZ$191 million.
Management confirmed its strongest ever half-year with 288,000 net additions, with subscribers growing 20% for the full year. Xero shares fell 13.0% on the news.
ASX 200 today
The ASX 200 is poised to open higher on Friday following a positive lead from US markets overnight. ASX energy stocks are likely to fall at the open after oil prices continued to slump.
