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ASX 200 Edges Higher as Blockbuster Healthcare Earnings From CSL and BHP Offset Broader Market Weakness

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Australia Housing Market 2026: Two-Speed Boom Persists as Prices Hit

SYDNEY — The S&P/ASX 200 traded modestly higher Tuesday afternoon, up 5.9 points, or 0.07%, to 9,079.1 as of 2:25 p.m. AEST, as a wave of strong earnings from healthcare and materials heavyweights offset weakness across much of the broader Australian market during the peak of the country’s corporate reporting season.

By midday, the benchmark had climbed 0.1% to 9,084 points, according to market tracking, with strong results from BHP, CSL, Pro Medicus and Cochlear helping lift the healthcare sector by a striking 7.3% on the day, even as the broader market remained largely in negative territory. Materials and energy sectors also advanced, up 1.2% and 0.7% respectively, while consumer staples, telecommunications and financials all weighed on the index, falling 1.3%, 1.2% and 1.1% respectively.

Tuesday’s session followed a soft finish to Monday’s trade, when the ASX 200 fell 42 points, or 0.46%, to close at 9,073.2, while the broader All Ordinaries index dropped 34.2 points, or 0.37%, to 9,279. Energy and raw materials were the only sectors to finish Monday’s session convincingly higher as commodity prices provided support.

Global mining giant BHP posted a surge in profit driven by elevated copper prices, contributing significantly to Tuesday’s gains in the materials sector. Meanwhile, biotech giant CSL reported its first annual loss since the company listed on the ASX in 1994, a historic milestone that nonetheless failed to dent investor enthusiasm, with CSL shares among those propelling the healthcare sector’s outsized gain for the day. Diagnostic imaging software company Pro Medicus and hearing implant maker Cochlear also posted strong results that added to the sector’s rally.

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Elsewhere in Tuesday’s earnings news, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank was hit with a $70 million financial penalty tied to risk management failures, a development that weighed on the broader financial sector alongside other factors pressuring bank stocks during the session.

Plumbing products manufacturer Reliance Worldwide reported lower adjusted earnings, citing the impact of tariffs, higher copper input costs and softer sales volumes. The company’s board separately confirmed it had received an unsolicited takeover proposal from investment firm Brookfield, a development that prompted the board to withdraw its planned final dividend as the two parties work toward a binding Scheme Implementation Deed. Exclusivity restrictions tied to the proposal apply for four weeks, running through Sept. 15, and the Reliance Worldwide board has recommended shareholders take no immediate action while the proposal remains subject to confirmatory due diligence.

Insignia Financial, the wealth management platform operator, reported record platform net inflows of $18.9 billion for the year, in line with analyst estimates, while lifting its platform market share to 9.9% as of March 31, up from 8.6% a year earlier. The company’s total dividend for the financial year rose 39% to 78.0 cents per share, fully franked, and it set a fiscal 2028 platform funds-under-administration target of between $186 billion and $200 billion.

Energy producer Amplitude Energy delivered record full-year production, revenue and cash flow figures, driven by strong output from its Orbost facility as the company continues progressing its East Coast Supply Project. Sales revenue rose 7% to $285.8 million on higher sales volumes and a 5% increase in average realized gas prices to $10.36 per gigajoule, while underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization and exploration expenses rose 12% to $191.8 million at a 67% margin.

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Monday’s session had also featured significant earnings-driven volatility. JB Hi-Fi shares crashed 12% following the release of the electronics retailer’s results, even as the company reported record full-year sales. Brokerage firm Bell Potter characterized the sell-off as a potential buying opportunity, retaining its buy rating on the stock while trimming its price target to $81.00 from $87.00, implying potential upside of roughly 13% along with an expected 4.4% dividend yield for fiscal 2027. In a note to clients, Bell Potter wrote that while it anticipates “challenging trading conditions over the next ~9 months for the overall Consumer Discretionary sector” with fiscal 2027 representing “the cyclical low point for most retailers,” the firm sees JB Hi-Fi positioned to “relatively outperform the peer group from 2H27e onwards.”

Property group Lendlease also fell sharply Monday, diving more than 11% after the real estate developer swung to its fourth annual loss in five years, driven by continued write-downs tied to its messy retreat from various international markets. Rail freight operator Aurizon likewise declined by a similar margin Monday despite reporting a 24% increase in full-year profit to $463 million, illustrating the extent to which investor reaction to earnings season results has, at times, diverged sharply from the underlying financial performance being reported.

Looking ahead, Santos, Evolution Mining, Temple & Webster, Whitehaven Coal and Mirvac are scheduled to report results Wednesday, with July employment figures due for release Thursday, continuing a heavy stretch of scheduled economic and corporate data expected to keep driving volatility across the Australian market this week.

The Australian dollar traded at its highest level in 11 weeks Tuesday, buying 71.22 U.S. cents, up from 70.68 U.S. cents at 5 p.m. AEST Friday, reflecting broader currency market dynamics playing out alongside the domestic earnings season.

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Ahead of Tuesday’s open, ASX 200 futures had pointed to a soft start to the session, down 0.4% at 7 a.m. Sydney time, following a weaker overnight lead from Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%, the S&P 500 lost 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.3% overnight, with 10 of the S&P 500’s 11 sectors finishing lower. Energy was the sole standout sector on Wall Street, supported by Brent crude prices nudging toward $91 a barrel amid renewed concern over instability in the Middle East, where an anticipated period of calm has shown signs of proving short-lived.

The ASX 200 remains well below the all-time high of 9,198.6 points it reached in February, having settled closer to the 8,800 level by July before recovering some ground through August’s earnings season. With reporting season set to continue through the remainder of the week, investors are likely to remain focused on how individual company results, particularly from the materials, energy and consumer sectors still due to report, shape the index’s trajectory heading into the final stretch of August trading.

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BSE shares drop 3% after second downgrade in two days. Nuvama lists CAS among 3 key headwinds

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BSE shares drop 3% after second downgrade in two days. Nuvama lists CAS among 3 key headwinds
Shares of BSE dropped around 3% on Tuesday, extending losses for the fifth consecutive session after Nuvama downgraded the stock’s rating to Hold from Buy, and slashed its target price, listing three key headwinds converging in FY27.

BSE shares dropped to Rs 3,235 apiece on Tuesday morning, the lowest level seen by the stock in around five months. Shares of the stock have now fallen more than 10% over five consecutive sessions of losses.

Nuvama on BSE share price

Nuvama downgraded its rating on the shares of BSE to ‘Hold’ and slashed its target price to Rs 3,240 apiece from Rs 4,090 apiece. The latest target price implies around 3% downside potential from the stock’s previous closing price of Rs 3,332 apiece.

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The brokerage highlighted three headwinds for the stock exchange that converge in the ongoing financial year 2027. Here are the 3 key headwinds.

1) CAS has reset volumes, impairing expiry-day decay trading dynamics

The newly introduced closing auction session (CAS) has led to huge confusion among traders, resulting in lower participation. Nuvama highlighted that BSE’s index option premium volumes (ADPTV) of Rs 18,100 crore are the lowest since January 2025.


The premium per contract, which had spiked 54% to Rs 2,605 in the first week of August, has fully unwound, and premium-to-notional is back to 11.1 bps versus 10.9 bps in July, it added, noting that the key issue is lower trading velocity and participation loss.
“Earlier, option premiums decayed predictably into expiry, enabling repeated participation through short duration trades. CAS introduces uncertainty in final settlement due to auction-based closing, reducing the predictability of this decay path. This weakens theta-harvesting strategies and reduces leverage for buyers that previously relied on rapidly falling premiums, and reduces seller interest due to uncertainty of option decay—impacting a large part of the ecosystem,” Nuvama said.The damage is visible as BSE expiry-day contracts fell 33% versus 24% for non-expiry, the brokerage highlighted.

2) Bank guarantee norms are second leg

RBI’s bank guarantee norms are the second leg, and they arrive precisely as CAS impact could heal, according to Nuvama. Tighter collateral requirements may raise capital intensity for intermediaries, reducing turnover efficiency in high-frequency strategies that drive contract volumes, it added.

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The brokerage feels that the impact is likely gradual but could cap recovery into FY28.

3) Market share gains are nearing saturation

Nuvama highlighted that BSE’s contract share of nearly 51.5% is already high, but ADPTV’s share remains lower at around 36%, due to a lower mix of non-expiry-day contribution. This is limiting incremental upside from further share gains, according to the brokerage.

“With contract MS at 50% and incremental levers exhausted, we see no near-term trigger. The gap to ADPTV share of 36.3% is structural due to higher concentration near expiry,” it further said.

Nuvama cut BSE’s EPS estimates by 6.3% for FY27 and 15% for FY28. However, it sees a recovery in VIX as the largest swing factor, suggesting that a move in VIX towards 16–18 could materially lift premium per contract and ADPTV even without a recovery in contracts.

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Faster-than-expected adaptation to CAS, deeper closing-auction liquidity, regulatory recalibration of CAS mechanics, and stronger non-expiry participation could also drive volumes above Nuvama’s revised assumptions.

Jefferies on BSE share price

Nuvama’s downgrade comes a day after Jefferies downgraded the counter to ‘underperform’ from ‘hold’ and trimmed the target price to Rs 2,940 from Rs 3,520.

Jefferies flagged risks to BSE’s revenue from domestic proprietary traders, who account for around 50% of notional turnover. It sees headwinds from the STT hike, RBI’s bank guarantee norms and the Closing Auction Session (CAS).

Also read | BSE shares tumble 5% after Jefferies downgrades stock to ‘underperform’. Here’s why

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BSE share price

BSE shares have fallen over 9% in a week and 8% in a month, although the stock is overall up 25% in 2026 so far. After hitting a 52-week low of Rs 2,021.50 apiece in September last year, BSE shares more than doubled in eight months to hit a 52-week high of Rs 4,447 apiece in May this year. The stock has now fallen more than 27% since then to trade at Rs 3,235 apiece on Tuesday morning.

In the longer term, BSE shares have delivered stellar returns of 1,038% in three years and more than 2,500% in five years. The company has a market capitalisation of more than Rs 1.3 lakh crore.

Also read | Paytm block deal: Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s Resilient Asset likely sells nearly 2 crore shares worth Rs 2,949 crore

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(With inputs from agencies)

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)

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Job vacancies at five-year low as smaller firms scale back recruitment

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A female office worker sitting in front of a laptop and looking at her phone

The number of job vacancies has fallen to its lowest level in more than five years as smaller businesses cut back on recruitment, the latest official figures indicate.

Vacancy numbers dipped slightly over the May-to-July period to 707,000, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which said small firms were citing labour and operating costs as reasons for scaling back hiring.

The ONS said the labour market was “little changed overall”, with the unemployment rate remaining at 4.9%.

Growth in regular earnings – which excludes bonuses – picked up slightly, rising at an annual pace of 3.5% in the three months to June.

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Copper boom drives $13.7bn profit, dividend boost at BHP

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Copper boom drives $13.7bn profit, dividend boost at BHP

Booming copper prices and record iron ore volumes drove BHP to a $13.7 billion profit, with the miner to pay out its biggest dividend since 2022.

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BCI Minerals to build sulphate pilot plant

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BCI Minerals to build sulphate pilot plant

BCI Minerals has taken another step toward downstream processing at its Mardie salt project despite a spate of other companies failing in their attempts to produce sulphate of potash.

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Tencent shares slide as Mizuho cuts price target on AI returns concerns

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Tencent shares slide as Mizuho cuts price target on AI returns concerns

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Likely deal looms for contentious gambling reforms

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Likely deal looms for contentious gambling reforms

Major parties appear poised to sign off on changes to gambling laws, but some MPs say the reforms do not go far enough.

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Successful FY26 for SRG Global

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Successful FY26 for SRG Global

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Wisbech homeowner feared energy grant scheme was a scam

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Head and shoulders image of David Brain looking into camera. David is wearing tinted glasses and a pinstriped shirt.

Labour councillor Rosy Moore, from Cambridge City Council, which is the lead authority, said: “We’ve been so successful that all of our [grant] money is booked to be spent, as it were, that’s all in the pipeline.

“So we’ve actually written to the department and asked if they could extend it for us because our partnership is working so well.”

Brain said he learned of the scheme through a representative at the door.

“We were very sceptical, but we went online and we checked them out, and then we checked whether it was a legitimate thing through the government website,” he said.

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“We registered, and then we got a call from a contractor that had been appointed, they came and did a survey, and we were still very, very sceptical, but we worked through the process.

“They answered the questions. There was no hard sell or a hard push, and because they’d satisfied my scepticism, we went ahead.”

Asked if he thought it was too good to be true and a scam, Brain said: “All the way through, to be honest with you… it was only at the end, once the process had been done and they’d sent me the handover package, that I thought, ‘Well, you know, it does seem too good to be true, but you know, we were a beneficiary from it, thankfully.’”

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Evercore ISI Names Top Off-Price Retail Stocks to Watch

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Evercore ISI Names Top Off-Price Retail Stocks to Watch

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Macmahon tips FY26 momentum to continue

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Macmahon tips FY26 momentum to continue

Shares in Macmahon Holdings were sold off early on Tuesday, despite meeting or exceeding market guidance for the tenth consecutive year.

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