The Australian sharemarket hit its highest in a month, only for investors to lose their appetite after lunch, as word filtered through about renewed tensions in Ukraine.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 2oo was up by as much as 1 per cent at lunchtime and at its highest in four weeks – a slight improvement in jobs data and a strong run by the miners and blood giant CSL offset an earnings season horrorshow for Wesfarmers and Telstra.
But progress was lost as whispers out of Europe sparked a late-session sell-off, eroding most of the day’s gains in 90 minutes and leaving the market just 11.3 points, or 0.16 per cent, higher at 7296.2.
IG Markets analyst Kyle Rodda credited the decline to renewed tensions in Eastern Europe, following reports Ukraine had fired mortar shells and grenades at Russian separatists in a disputed region of the country.
Mr Rodda said the development had raised fears it could be the pretext Russia uses to launch an invasion.
“These reports are so far unconfirmed and naturally the situation is fluid,” Mr Rodda said.
“But it’s put the possibility of a war in Europe back on the agenda, and the invasion trade back in vogue, with stocks dropping as a result.”
The broader All Ordinaries also slipped following the news, finishing the session just 1.8 points, or 0.02 per cent, higher at 7,574.8.
The Aussie Dollar, which had been tracking higher after a minor improvement in the January unemployment result, plunged from 72.12 US cents to 71.63 US cents.
US markets had finished flat overnight, but a late-session improvement set the ASX up to capitalise on some strong earnings season results.
One of the key days of the profit calendar saw huge moves for energy giant Woodside Petroleum, which finished 4.1 per cent higher at $27.72, as soaring energy prices underpinned a record $2.75 billion result.
Other earnings season winners included gold miner Newcrest, which rose 1.5 per cent to $23.85, even after maintenance activity cruelled its production in the six months to December.
Steel manufacturer South32 climbed 1.1 per cent to $4.50, Origin Energy leap 1 per cent to $6.16, and toll giant Transurban defied soft traffic figures to jump 1.6 per cent to $13.08.
Coronavirus impacts finally caught up with retail conglomerate Wesfarmers, which cut its dividend on the back of a 12.7 per cent drop in first half profit.
Shares in the Bunnings Warehouse, Officeworks, Kmart, and Target owner finished the day 7.5 per cent lower at $50.81 – wiping more than $4.6 billion from the company’s value. It was one of the firm’s worst sessions since the coronavirus crash in March 2020.
Meanwhile, Australia’s biggest telco, Telstra, also had a shocker, finishing the day 4.2 per cent lower at $3.90, as a one-off reduction in NBN payments ate into its bottom line.
Tesltra’s operating earnings fell by nearly 15 per cent in the first half, but it maintained an 8 cent dividend.
Popping up on the radar of Openmarkets Group chief executive Ivan Tchourilov was intellectual property holding company IPH, which finished the day 9.2 per cent higher at $9.03 on an 11 per cent increase in first half earnings and improved margins.
Investment manager Challenger was close behind, up 6.7 per cent to $6.74, as it boosted its interim dividend and lifted axjmtzywssets under management by 20 per cent.
