Global sentiment continues to drive daily market movements in Australia, with the S&P/ASX200 (INDEXASX: XJO) falling 0.7% on Thursday. Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL) shares were a standout, with the holding company notching up a record profit. SPI 200 futures contracts are pointing down on Friday.
Just two of the market’s nine sectors finished higher, that being communications and consumer staples, up 0.1% each, with the materials and technology sector the hardest hit by recessionary concerns, falling 1.1 and 0.8%.
United Malt Group (ASX: UMG) was a standout, gaining 5.5%, while Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) fell by more than 8%.
But all the focus was on Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL), with the conglomerate delivering a strong half-year profit of $453 million, up 167% on the prior year. Soul Patts’ revenue increased by more than 70%, supporting another strong dividend increase. Brickworks (ASX: BKW), which has a significant cross-shareholding with WHSP, managed a similar result, with a 13% increase in revenue supporting a record profit result of $410 million. The group refused to provide guidance, noting short-term demand is strong but likely to come under pressure long term.
Extending the commentary, Brickworks managing director Lindsay Partridge said a sharp slowdown in housing construction and renovations was likely toward the end of 2023, but that there should still be a strong six-month period of demand.
Sigma Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SIG) gained 0.8% despite the company missing expectations and announcing a significant increase in borrowing costs. Sigma delivered a profit of just $1.2 million from a loss of $7.2 million in the prior year, with the decision to halve working capital requirements central to this.
Sigma’s revenue rose 6.2% but management warned of ‘bleak’ economic conditions that will impact consumer spending.
ASX-listed semi-conductor group Weebit Nano (ASX: WBT) went into a trading halt after receiving a warning from ASIC about recent moves in its share price. The group then announced it was looking to raise additional capital in the pursuit of growth and flexibility.
Markets rally, Block & Coinbase sink
Global markets oscillated between gains and losses overnight, as investors digested the latest Fed meeting minutes and the implications of the cash rate moving to 5%.
Ultimately, the Nasdaq led the way, gaining 1%, while both the S&P500 and Dow Jones posted small gains of 0.3 and 0.2%, respectively.
Jobless claims fell to 191,000, the lowest level in three weeks as the labour market remains resilient to a clear slowing of the economy. Interestingly, the Swiss central bank chose to hike rates another 50 basis points despite the near failure of Credit Suisse while Citigroup Group CEO, Jane Fraser, was quoted as saying ‘this is not a credit crisis’ rather issues limited to just a few banks.
The Block (NYSE: SQ) stock price fell by more than 14% after a short seller suggested the company was facilitating fraud through its payment network. Meanwhile, Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) fell by 14% after the company received notice of an investigation by the market regulator.
