Business

ASX 200 Edges Higher to Near 8,934 Points as Investors Weigh Falling Oil Prices and Global Earnings News

Published

1 day ago

28 July 2026

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

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed further into record territory Tuesday afternoon, rising 0.45% to 8,933.8 points, adding 39.8 points as investors weighed a sharp overnight drop in global oil prices against a wave of corporate earnings updates and continued optimism tied to easing Middle East tensions.

The gain builds on a strong recent run for Australian equities, with the benchmark index continuing to trade within striking distance of the all-time high it set earlier this year.

A Market Buoyed by Easing Middle East Tensions

The S&P/ASX 200 was set to rise Monday as the United States paused strikes for a second day, a development that helped fuel broader optimism across regional markets heading into the new trading week. That momentum appeared to carry through into Tuesday’s session, even as falling oil prices created a mixed picture for specific sectors of the market.

Energy Stocks Under Pressure as Oil Tumbles

While the broader index advanced, Australia’s energy sector faced significant headwinds from the overnight collapse in global crude prices. ASX 200 energy shares including Beach Energy and Santos were expected to come under pressure Tuesday after oil prices sank sharply overnight, with West Texas Intermediate crude down 7.3% to $82.78 a barrel and Brent crude down 8.5% to $88.58 a barrel, according to Bloomberg data.

That decline followed reports over the weekend that the United States and Iran had paused military strikes, easing fears of a prolonged disruption to Middle East oil shipments and sending crude prices tumbling from their recent highs.

China’s Blockbuster Chip Listing Reverberates Across Markets

Tuesday’s session also came against the backdrop of one of the most dramatic corporate listings of the year, with China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies making waves across Asia-Pacific markets. China’s fourth-largest DRAM maker exploded higher in its Shanghai debut as investors chased a rare pure-play bet on Beijing’s chip self-sufficiency push, with shares closing at 49 yuan, up 466%, valuing the company at about 3.3 trillion yuan, or roughly $488 billion, and making it the biggest company listed in mainland China.

The IPO raised as much as 66.6 billion yuan, the second-largest offering in Chinese history, generating 141 billion yuan in turnover on the day, nearly 7% of all onshore market transactions. The retail portion of the offering was 212 times oversubscribed, with 9.4 million orders worth 7.07 trillion yuan submitted, roughly 10 times the size of SpaceX’s record order book. That listing added to a broader narrative of volatility across global chipmakers, with flow-on effects felt across memory and semiconductor stocks worldwide.

Corporate Earnings and Buybacks Add to the Mix

Several individual company updates also shaped Tuesday’s trading session on the ASX. Webjet-owned WebBeds flagged first-half 2027 revenue growth of 11% to 15% compared with the same period a year earlier, alongside an on-market buy-back of up to $90 million, funded from existing cash and running from mid-August 2026 through late July 2027. The company’s total transaction value margin was seen at approximately 6.7%, up from 6.5% in the first half of 2026, marking a third consecutive half of margin gains, with cash conversion above 100% for the coming half.

Elsewhere, defense and space technology company Electro Optic Systems posted standout results heading into the new trading week. Electro Optic Systems flagged a 284% jump in first-half revenue and upgraded its base-business guidance, citing a record order book driven by strong counter-drone demand. The company’s first-half 2026 revenue reached about $169 million, up 284%, or $125 million, from the same period a year earlier, marking the highest first-half revenue total in the company’s history, while its order book stood at $846 million as of June 30, up 84%, or $387 million, from the end of 2025.

Bell Potter analysts maintained a bullish stance on the defense contractor following the update, retaining a buy rating and raising the firm’s price target to $12.60 from $12.50, citing the company’s leadership position across multiple counter-drone technology verticals and its exposure to rising global defense spending.

A Historic Backdrop for Australian Equities

Tuesday’s gains continue to build on a remarkable run for the ASX 200 over the past several years. The index hit an all-time high of 9,198.6 points in February 2026 before settling closer to the 8,800 mark by July, with the benchmark having achieved a long-term annualized historical return of roughly 8.2% on a total return basis, including dividends, over its more than 25-year history. The index remains heavily weighted toward the financial and materials sectors, with financials making up around 28% of the index and including major players such as Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Global Backdrop Remains Supportive

Beyond the immediate catalysts of falling oil prices and the CXMT listing, Tuesday’s session took place against a broader global backdrop of continued merger and acquisition activity and green energy investment. M&A deal volumes were projected to hit $173 billion in 2026, the highest level since 2019, aided by faster regulatory approvals. Green energy financing also hit a record $20.1 billion in the first half of 2026, topping the full-year 2025 total, split between $11.8 billion in construction financing and $8.3 billion in investment financing.

With the index continuing to trade near record territory and a heavy slate of domestic earnings reports still to come during the Australian reporting season, investors are likely to remain focused on how individual companies navigate a market environment shaped by volatile oil prices, geopolitical developments in the Middle East, and continued ripple effects from China’s blockbuster semiconductor listing. Whether the ASX 200 can push toward fresh record highs in the sessions ahead may hinge heavily on how energy stocks absorb the overnight oil price shock and whether broader risk appetite continues to hold up as more corporate results filter through the market this week.

Business

Middle-earners ‘struggling’ over Jersey schools bonus cap

Published

3 minutes ago

29 July 2026

NewsAdmin

A woman with dark hair and blue eyes in a plain white T-shirt sits at a desk in a wood-panelled home office, facing the camera. A computer monitor, notebook, water bottle, phone and glasses are visible on the desk, with framed artwork hanging on the wall behind.

Middle income families who are struggling with the cost of living are being “failed” by the government, a Jersey parent has said.

It comes as families have shared frustration that a means-tested benefit to help buy school supplies has not been made available island-wide.

Mum of two Lisa McCabe said not being able to access the back to school bonus was a “kick in the teeth” for working parents just above the income threshold.

The social security minister said she would review the back to school bonus ahead of next year and that the government was looking at ways to make life more affordable for parents in Jersey.

McCabe runs a private health screening clinic in Jersey.

She said “every day” she was seeing parents struggling with the cost of raising a family in Jersey: “There’s the level of stress and burnout from people who are on what would have been considered very good wages a few years ago that just aren’t making ends meet.”

She said many middle-earners in the island had been squeezed by an increase in interest rates and the end of mortgage interest tax relief for homeowners.

For many working parents, she said, this was made worse by expensive nursery fees and the cost of covering children’s hot lunches and after school clubs.

“There are some really difficult decisions to be made,” she said.

Business

Humana (HUM) earnings Q2 2026

Published

12 minutes ago

29 July 2026

NewsAdmin

Cheng Xin | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Humana on Wednesday reported second-quarter results that topped estimates, as the health insurer’s spending on medical services came in line with expectations.

The company also maintained its 2026 adjusted profit outlook of at least $9 per share.

The earnings beat was driven by strength across Humana’s insurance business and CenterWell healthcare services unit, Humana CFO Celeste Mellet said in an interview. She said medical and pharmacy cost trends tracked in line with Humana’s expectations across new and existing members. The company saw “slight favorability” in medical costs in the inpatient space, particularly among members receiving care from value-based providers, she added.

Still, in a Wednesday note, Cantor Fitzgerald analysts called the unchanged profit outlook a “disappointment” after recent earnings beats and guidance raises seen by other insurers overseeing privately run Medicare Advantage plans. Investors have been ratcheting up their expectations for the industry as some companies hike their outlooks and get a better handle on rising medical costs in those plans – an issue that has been dogging the broader sector for more than two years.

Shares of Humana fell more than 4% in premarket trading despite the solid quarter. The company is one of the largest Medicare Advantage providers serving people aged 65 and older as well as people with disabilities.

Here’s what the company reported for the second quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: $7.61 adjusted vs. $7.22 expected
Revenue: $40.87 billion vs. $40.61 billion expected

The company posted second-quarter net income of $694 million, or $5.73 per share, compared with $545 million, or $4.51 per share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding items like amortization and impairment charges, Humana earned $7.61 per share.

Revenue climbed to $40.87 billion from $32.39 billion in the prior-year quarter. The company’s insurer and Centerwell unit both topped analysts’ sales estimates for the quarter, according to StreetAccount.

Insurers, particularly those that run Medicare Advantage plans, have been pinched by an influx of people seeking care they delayed post-pandemic and high-cost specialty drugs like GLP-1s, among other factors.

But Humana’s medical benefit ratio — a measure of total medical expenses paid relative to premiums collected — came in at 91.2% for the second quarter, which is in line with what analysts were expecting. Mellet said the ratio also matched the company’s expectations for the quarter across both new and current members.

“I think that it’s a combination of just [medical cost] trend stabilizing and then our actions as well to help drive better health outcomes for our members and our patients,” Mellet said.

Still, the ratio is slightly higher than the 89.9% reported in the year-earlier period. A lower ratio typically indicates that the company collected more in premiums than it paid out in benefits, resulting in higher profitability.

Mellet said medical cost expectations for next year are “fairly consistent.” The company is watching to see if services such as inpatient admissions will continue to decline this year, but she said “at this point, we call medical costs more stable.”

Meanwhile, pharmacy medical cost trends remain “very elevated,” driven by drug prices and the launch of new medicines, Mellet noted. She said those costs will be slightly higher next year compared to 2026, but added that it’s a broader drug cost issue, not a question of member demand.

Mellet said Humana expects changes to its 2027 Medicare Advantage plans to help improve profitability and put the company on track to reach a sustainable pretax margin of at least 3% by 2028. She said the insurer also remains confident in its ability to boost earnings by expanding membership, improving the quality ratings of its Medicare Advantage plans, maintaining pricing discipline and controlling costs.

Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.