The Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX: QAN) share price ended the week on a high.

Qantas shares gained 1.44% on Friday to finish at $5.275. For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fell 0.27% on the last day of the week.

Let’s take a look at what is going on at Qantas.

What’s going on?

Qantas shares have lifted 16% since market close on 24 August. Qantas released FY22 results revealing a statutory loss before tax of $1.19 billion on 25 August. However, the company also announced a $400 million share buy-back.

In today’s news, Qantas’ proposed acquisition of Alliance Aviation is facing more opposition.

Katter’s Australian Party leader Robbie Katter has written to the ACCC, voicing his concerns about the takeover bid.

Qantas advised of its plan to take over Alliance in May. Alliance has 70 aircraft with up to 100 seats, suitable for charter services. Qantas believes the acquisition would mean QantasLink can compete in the “highly competitive charter segment”. However, this acquisition is subject to approval from the ACCC.

In a release today, Katter said the merger “could only have a detrimental effect on rural and remote customers. He added:

I personally believe the total acquisition of Alliance by Qantas will do little but intensify the vast problems already being experienced on the Mount Isa and similar routes.

On 18 August, the ACCC expressed it has preliminary competition concerns with the proposed acquisition. ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said at the time:

We are concerned that this proposed acquisition is likely to substantially lessen competition for air transport services to and from regional and remote areas in Queensland and Western Australia for corporate customers.

Meanwhile, the national cabinet has recently agreed masks will no longer be required on domestic flights in Australia from 9 September.

A Qantas spokeswoman welcomed the decision, telling the Financial Review it “brings Australia into line” with the United States, the United Kingdom and European countries who have “not required masks onboard for several months”.

Qantas share price snapshot

Qantas shares are up 1% in the past 12 months and are tracking 5% higher year to date.

In the past month, the Qantas share price has surged nearly 14%.

Qantas has a market capitalisation of more than $9.9 billion based on the current share price.

The post Qantas shares end week higher despite latest blow to Alliance bid appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

(function() {
function setButtonColorDefaults(param, property, defaultValue) {
if( !param || !param.includes(‘#’)) {
var button = document.getElementsByClassName(“pitch-snippet”)[0].getElementsByClassName(“pitch-button”)[0];
button.style[property] = defaultValue;
}
}

setButtonColorDefaults(“#43B02A”, ‘background’, ‘#5FA85D’);
setButtonColorDefaults(“#43B02A”, ‘border-color’, ‘#43A24A’);
setButtonColorDefaults(“#fff”, ‘color’, ‘#fff’);
})()

More reading

• Is this why the Macquarie share price was ‘steaming ahead’ on Friday?
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• The Bitcoin price tanked 15% in August. Here’s why
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Friday

Motley Fool contributor Monica O’Shea has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/U1VHLAN

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) slipped again today, weighed down by materials shares. The index closed Friday’s session 0.25% lower at 6,828.7 points.

That leaves it 275.4 points – or 3.88% – lower than it ended last week following disastrous sessions on Monday and Thursday.

The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) fell 1.9% today after concerns of a major lockdown and lower factory activity in China dragged on commodities overnight.

Iron ore futures tumbled 8% overnight to US$96.39 a tonne. Meanwhile, base metals fell as much as 7.6%.

In more positive news, the S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) lifted 0.7% despite a notable announcement from AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP).

All in all, five of the ASX 200’s 11 sectors gained on Friday. But which share outperformed all others? Keep reading to find out.

Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown

Today’s top performing ASX 200 share was tech giant Life360 Inc (ASX: 360). Its share price surged 5.56% despite the company’s silence.

Find out more about Life360 and what it’s been up to lately here.

Today’s biggest gains were made by these ASX shares:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Life360 Inc (ASX: 360)	$5.13	5.56%
GPT Group (ASX: GPT)	$4.23	2.67%
Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX: CUV)	$19.25	2.34%
A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M)	$5.83	2.28%
Block Inc (ASX: SQ2)	$101.01	2.19%
New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC)	$5.10	2%
Bank of Queensland Ltd (ASX: BOQ)	$6.99	1.9%
Charter Hall Retailer REIT (ASX: CQR)	$4.12	1.73%
Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)	$117.20	1.58%
Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN)	$5.28	1.54%

Our top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary to let you know which companies were making big moves on the day. Check in at Fool.com.au after the weekday market closes to see which stocks make the countdown.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

(function() {
function setButtonColorDefaults(param, property, defaultValue) {
if( !param || !param.includes(‘#’)) {
var button = document.getElementsByClassName(“pitch-snippet”)[0].getElementsByClassName(“pitch-button”)[0];
button.style[property] = defaultValue;
}
}

setButtonColorDefaults(“#43B02A”, ‘background’, ‘#5FA85D’);
setButtonColorDefaults(“#43B02A”, ‘border-color’, ‘#43A24A’);
setButtonColorDefaults(“#fff”, ‘color’, ‘#fff’);
})()

More reading

• Is this why the Macquarie share price was ‘steaming ahead’ on Friday?
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Why Dexus, Dusk, Macquarie, and Qantas shares are pushing higher
• It’s a cloudy day on the ASX, but some All Ords shares are still shining brightly
• Why is AMP buying back shares?

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Block, Inc. and Life360, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Block, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended A2 Milk and Macquarie Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/v5XCLaD

The Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) share price performed well compared to the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) today.

Macquarie shares went up 1.6% while the ASX 200 lost 0.2%.

It wasn’t the only large financial business that did well.

Let’s look at the performance of the big four ASX bank shares:

• The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price went up 0.9%
• The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price rose 0.8%
• The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price climbed 0.6%
• The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price went up 0.5%.

As you can see, the Macquarie share price went up materially more than the other major banks’ shares.

What happened?

The ASX share market sees changing prices every day, depending on market sentiment and which buyers and sellers are transacting.

Macquarie shares are steadily regaining some of the lost ground from prior market volatility when there was a lot of fear surrounding higher interest rates.

The global investment bank has seen some positive analysis from UBS analyst John Storey, who looked at July APRA data, according to reporting by The Australian.

He said that Macquarie’s mortgage growth is “steaming ahead” even though there could soon be a slowdown in lending. The Macquarie share price could be helped by the growth of Macquarie Bank.

Macquarie was reportedly the leader when it came to net new mortgage lending for the second consecutive month, but overall mortgage growth “slowed sharply” to 0.3%. The total mortgage rise across the system was $6 billion, which was the lowest since the pandemic.

It was noted that “overall real loan growth remained positive but there were signs of an imminent slowdown, with other personal and credit card lending down 2.1% and 1.2%”. Total gross loans and advances increased by 0.5%, while business lending grew by 0.6%.

How is Macquarie performing in this economic environment?

The latest update that investors had was in late July when Macquarie described how the first quarter of FY23 went at its annual general meeting.

Macquarie revealed “favourable trading conditions” with the first quarter operating profit up year over year, although trading conditions did “soften” during the quarter. Profit can be a key influencer on the Macquarie share price.

The investment bank’s annuity-style businesses – Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) and banking and financial services – saw their net profit rise “significantly” year over year, primarily due to income from the green-focused investment bank Green Investment Group (GIG) asset sales in MAM. The contribution from the banking and financial services division was “broadly in line” year over year.

Macquarie’s market-facing businesses, Commodities and Global Markets (CGM) and Macquarie Capital saw a combined net profit that was “up slightly”, primarily due to “strong results” across the commodities platform and higher investment-related income in Macquarie Capital.

Macquarie share price snapshot

Over the past two months, Macquarie shares have gone up by around 8%.

The post Is this why the Macquarie share price was ‘steaming ahead’ on Friday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

(function() {
function setButtonColorDefaults(param, property, defaultValue) {
if( !param || !param.includes(‘#’)) {
var button = document.getElementsByClassName(“pitch-snippet”)[0].getElementsByClassName(“pitch-button”)[0];
button.style[property] = defaultValue;
}
}

setButtonColorDefaults(“#43B02A”, ‘background’, ‘#5FA85D’);
setButtonColorDefaults(“#43B02A”, ‘border-color’, ‘#43A24A’);
setButtonColorDefaults(“#fff”, ‘color’, ‘#fff’);
})()

More reading

• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Why Dexus, Dusk, Macquarie, and Qantas shares are pushing higher
• It’s a cloudy day on the ASX, but some All Ords shares are still shining brightly
• Why did the ANZ share price go backwards in August?
• Analysts name 2 ASX 200 dividend shares to buy now

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Macquarie Group Limited and Westpac Banking Corporation. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/A8tDekQ

It has been another busy week for Australia’s top brokers. This has led to the release of a large number of broker notes.

Three broker buy ratings that you might want to know more about are summarised below. Here’s why brokers think these ASX shares are in the buy zone:

Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN)

According to a note out of Citi, its analysts have retained their buy rating and $4.70 price target on this retail giant’s shares. This follows the release of a full year result that came in slightly ahead of expectations. Citi was also pleased to see that household spending appears to be holding up. In light of this and the big discount its shares are trading at compared to the market, the broker thinks now could be time to buy. The Harvey Norman share price is trading at $4.17 today.

Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)

A note out of Morgan Stanley reveals that its analysts have retained their overweight rating and lifted their price target on this investment bank’s shares to $231.00. Morgan Stanley has upgraded its earnings estimates for FY 2023 to reflect favourable trading conditions. It is expecting some upbeat commentary at the company’s next quarterly update. The Macquarie share price is currently fetching $176.51.

Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB)

Analysts at Morgans have retained their add rating but trimmed their price target on this online travel agent’s shares slightly to $6.40. Morgans was pleased with Webjet’s trading update and highlights the strong recovery by the WebBeds business. It feels this means the company is on course to deliver earnings ahead of pre-COVID levels in FY 2024. Particularly given its materially lower cost base, consolidated systems, and large business in the US. The Webjet share price is trading at $5.38 on Friday.

The post Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

(function() {
function setButtonColorDefaults(param, property, defaultValue) {
if( !param || !param.includes(‘#’)) {
var button = document.getElementsByClassName(“pitch-snippet”)[0].getElementsByClassName(“pitch-button”)[0];
button.style[property] = defaultValue;
}
}

setButtonColorDefaults(“#43B02A”, ‘background’, ‘#5FA85D’);
setButtonColorDefaults(“#43B02A”, ‘border-color’, ‘#43A24A’);
setButtonColorDefaults(“#fff”, ‘color’, ‘#fff’);
})()

More reading

• Is this why the Macquarie share price was ‘steaming ahead’ on Friday?
• Why Dexus, Dusk, Macquarie, and Qantas shares are pushing higher
• It’s a cloudy day on the ASX, but some All Ords shares are still shining brightly
• Analysts name 2 ASX 200 dividend shares to buy now
• Why is the ASX 200 diving 2% on Tuesday?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Macquarie Group Limited and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/71mE8LI