Hello, hello, and welcome to HotCopper‘s The ASX Today for Wednesday, Week 17, I’m Isaac McIntyre. The ASX is down today, over -1.2%, even after Donald Trump said he would be extending the ceasefire with Iran “indefinitely.”
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The ceasefire had a day left in its two-week timeline, so this is a bit of a buzzer beater, but it’s not been enough to rouse enthusiasm. In fact, the general sentiment that’s come out of what is basically another Trump “TACO” — and on Tuesday again, fancy that — is that only new peace talks really matter now.
On that front, plans for a fresh round of talks between the U.S. and Iran have rapidly fallen apart, meaning there’s no real end in sight for the conflict. Critical questions on access to the Strait of Hormuz are still unanswered, too.
The ASX was never going to go that well on news like that, but then Oz shares were largely dented further by a rout in most leading health stocks.
Health was by far the worst sector, down over -5.7%, as Cochlear (ASX:COH) cut its underlying net profit guidance to between $290 to $330M, and CSL (ASX:CSL) posted a multi-billion dollar loss intraday. Other health blue-chips like Ramsay (ASX:RHC) and Sigma (ASX:SIG) were also caught up in the collapse.
Sticking with stocks, Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) dropped -9% after telling shareholders its cash profit had fallen 4% in the half-year, to $176M, thanks to “a tougher economy,” margin pressure, and rising competition.
And, if you want to find out why we lost more than -1% overall, you don’t really have to look past financials; the sector lost exactly what the wider bourse did, when CBA (ASX:CBA), Westpac (ASX:WBC), and the rest of the “Big Four” posted losses. As do our banks, as does the Aussie markets, remember.
Ampol (ASX:ALD) has kept chugging in the chaos, up +4% on stronger-than-expected refining margins. Having supplies until June helps, too, especially when compared to the fire-hit arch-rival Viva Energy (ASX:VEA).
And, finally, 3D printing developer 333D Ltd (ASX:T3D) got a rare chance in the bourse spotlight intraday after touching gains of up to +109%.
That’s the ASX Today, and I’m Isaac McIntyre. See you in the morning.
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