The retailers were boosted by this week’s data showing that consumer confidence surged in August to a 3½-year high after the Reserve Bank cut interest rates for the third time this year and signalled further cuts were likely. Sentiment advanced by 5.7 per cent to 98.5 points, a Westpac survey showed on Tuesday.

Property stocks got a lift from shopping centre and housing community owner Stockland, which jumped 7 per cent after saying it expected strong earnings growth this financial year and revealing plans to expand its business in data centres. Scentre, which owns the Westfield shopping centres, rose 2.3 per cent and fellow shopping centre landlord Vicinity added 2.8 per cent.

Transurban shares rose 2.1 per cent after the toll-road operator flagged its payout to shareholders will rise 6 per cent to 69¢ per stapled security as toll revenues increase. It has declared a 65¢ distribution for the year ended June 30.

The laggards

James Hardie shares plummeted 27.8 per cent after the home cladding maker said its full-year net income was down 60 per cent to $US62.6 million ($96.4 million) as sales in its key US market declined. Demand in home repairs, renovations and new construction is “challenging”, it warned, with “uncertainty […] a common thread throughout conversations” with customers and contractors.

CSL shares dropped a further 2.1 per cent after losing more than 16 per cent on Wednesday, when it announced up to 3000 jobs would be cut, and its vaccine arm would be spun off as it streamlines its operations and deals with a volatile Trump administration.

BHP, the nation’s biggest miner, was also lower, although it narrowed its morning losses to 0.9 per cent. The world’s largest miner may be forced to rethink the future of some of its Australian mines as falling prices for coal and iron ore crushed its profit to its lowest mark since the COVID-19 crisis. Its next-largest iron ore rival Fortescue Metals dropped 1.6 per cent.

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Yancoal, the nation’s biggest pure play coal producer, slumped 11.4 per cent after saying that while it increased its coal output in the June half, its revenues fell 15 per cent after a fall in coal prices.

Energy major Santos was down 2.5 per cent after delaying its results into next week as takeover negotiations with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company continue.

Breville dipped 2.2 per cent despite reporting a 14.6 per cent rise in net profit. While the kitchen appliances maker said it has “largely mitigated” potential Trump tariff impacts by pulling forward sales, it expects “significant input cost increases” for this financial year and next.

Gloria Jeans and Donut King operator Retail Food Group plunged 15 per cent, having revealed a $14.9 million loss as its same store sales stagnated over the past financial year.

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank shares fell 1.4 per cent after it said its full-year results would include a $539.5 million in goodwill charges as well as $9 million in restructuring costs. The “notable items” would not affect the bank’s cash profit, which is the main measure watched by the market.

The lowdown

The Australian sharemarket rebounded from an early dip as traders kept an eye on company results. A sell-off in big US tech stocks overnight dragged the bourse down at the start of trading, according to CommSec, but shares were buoyed as investors started to focus on the local market and this week’s positive data that showed consumer confidence was at its highest level since February 2022.

Factoring that in, it turned into a mostly positive trading session.

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On Wall Street overnight, US stocks faded following drops for Nvidia and other stars that have been riding the mania surrounding artificial-intelligence technology. The S&P 500 fell 0.6 per cent for a third straight loss. The Dow Jones added 10 points, or less than 0.1 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite slumped 1.5 per cent.

The heaviest weight on Wall Street was Nvidia, whose chips are powering much of the move into AI. It sank 3.5 per cent.

The week’s headliner for Wall Street is probably arriving on Friday. That’s when Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell will give a highly anticipated speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The setting has been home to big policy announcements from the Fed in the past, and the hope on Wall Street is that Powell may hint that cuts to interest rates are coming soon.

with AP, Bloomberg

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