After a bruising 6.4% loss in January, the Australian share market is trying to pick up the pieces, with Thursday being its sixth positive session in eight trading days so far in February, and a third straight gain.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) index gained 20.2 points, or 0.3%, to 7,288, while the broader All Ordinaries (ASX: XAO) also closed about 0.3% higher, at 7,595.
Market rides NAB profit
National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) was one of the major drivers, with cash earnings for the first quarter beating expectations, as the bank gained market share in home loans and deposits.
Cash earnings in the first quarter were 9.1% higher than a year ago, at $1.8 billion, and analysts said the lift was likely to bring upgrades to consensus earnings estimates.
NAB’s net interest margin eased by 5 basis points over the quarter to 1.64%, while costs rose by 2%, including pressure from higher salaries.
Revenue increased by 8%, which NAB said came on the back of higher volumes across housing and business lending and a recovery in the contribution from its treasury operations.
ASX CEO departs
Exchange operator ASX Ltd (ASX: ASX) fell by 3.8% to $83.41, as chief executive Dominic Stevens announced his departure, saying he could not commit to leading the company for another six years as it seeks an ambitious technology transformation.
Stevens and chairman Damian Roche decided that a new CEO should take the reins before ASX flicks the switch on its world-first project to replace its CHESS settlement system with a blockchain-based distributed ledger technology (DLT) system.
AMP in the spotlight
AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP) shares rose by 5.9%, to $1.07, after reporting a net loss of $252 million loss for 2021, on the back of revenue that was 3% lower, at $3.3 billion.
Investors focused on an underlying annual profit rise 53% to $356 million, driven by a 38% earnings increase in the AMP Bank division, and an 18% rise in profit at the flagship AMP Capital asset management division.
Bapcor & Magellan shares bounce back
Automotive services group Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP) surged by 10.3%t, to $7.15, after falling out of bed to the tune of 8% the day before, after the company reported a 14.7% fall in half-year net profit, to $57.7 million.
Embattled funds management group Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) gained 46 cents, or 2.5%, but is still down by 11% year-to-date.
ASX 200 today
Looking ahead, the ASX 200 is expected to open lower this morning, following a negative lead from US markets overnight. The Nasdaq again fared the worst, finishing the session down more than 2%.
