Author: therawinformant

Over the last 12 months the S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology index has provided investors with a return of 25.7% despite the pandemic.

This compares very favourably to a disappointing 10% decline by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) over the same period.

The good news is that I’m confident this outperformance can continue over the coming years. As a result, I think it would be a good idea to have decent exposure to the tech sector.

But which ASX tech shares should you buy? Three of my favourites are listed below:

Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)

The first ASX tech share to buy is Altium. It is an award-winning printed circuit board (PCB) design software provider. I think it is a strong buy due to its leadership position in a market exposed to the Internet of Things boom. I expect the proliferation of electronic devices to lead to increasing demand for its software over the next decade.

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

Another ASX tech share to buy is Appen. Its million-plus team of crowd sourced experts prepare the data that goes into the artificial intelligence and machine learning models of some of the biggest tech companies in the world. Given how these markets are expected to grow materially in the future, Appen looks well-placed to profit.

Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1)

Finally, I think Megaport is an ASX tech share to buy. It is an elasticity connectivity and network services company. Its service allows users to increase and decrease their available bandwidth in response to their own demand requirements. This means users don’t need to be tied to a fixed service level on long-term and expensive contracts. Demand for its service has been growing very strongly thanks to the accelerating shift to the cloud, leading to stellar recurring revenue growth.

More reading

• How you can take advantage of the surging Australian dollar
• Get rich with these stellar ASX growth shares
• Where to invest $20,000 into ASX shares right now
• Why Kogan and these popular ASX shares just hit record highs
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Altium and MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Appen Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MEGAPORT FPO. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The post Why I would buy Appen and these ASX tech shares right now appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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Based on recent economic data, I think it is highly unlikely that the Reserve Bank will be lifting the cash rate any time soon.

While this is good news for borrowers, it is the very opposite for income investors.

Fortunately, all is not lost. This is because there are a large number of dividend shares on the Australian share market that offer vastly superior yields.

Two which I think income investors ought to consider buying are listed below:

Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF)

I think that Rural Funds is one of the best ASX dividend shares on the local market. This is due to the quality of its assets, their blue chip tenants, and their ultra-long tenancy agreements. In respect to the latter, at the last count Rural Funds had a weighted average lease expiry profile of 11.5 years.

In addition to this, the company has fixed rental increases built into its tenancies. This means management has great visibility on its future earnings and also its distributions. As a result, it has been able to reaffirm its distribution guidance for both FY 2020 and FY 2021. For next year it intends to lift its distribution by 4% to 11.28 cents per share. Based on the latest Rural Funds share price, this equates to a yield of 5.5%.

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

There certainly is a lot of debate about the Telstra dividend. Some analysts believe the telco giant will have to cut its dividend further in the near future, others believe its forecast free cash flows will be sufficient to maintain it. I’m in the latter group and feel confident that 16 cents per share will be the bottom, even after the NBN compensation ends.

This is thanks to the cost savings being made by its T22 strategy, rational industry competition, and the easing of the NBN headwind. Based on the current Telstra share price, this will mean a fully franked 4.7% dividend yield.

More reading

• 3 of the best ASX blue chip shares you can buy right now
• 2 high yield ASX dividend shares to buy this week
• Why Morgans thinks the Afterpay share price could be a reporting season hero
• Why the Telstra share price is underperforming the market
• 2 ASX shares to buy during ‘Dry July’

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended RURALFUNDS STAPLED and Telstra Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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On Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) ran out of steam and dropped notably lower. The benchmark index fell 1.3% to 6,075.1 points.

Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Thursday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 set to rise.

It looks set to be a better day of trade for the ASX 200 on Thursday. According to the latest SPI futures, the benchmark index is expected to open the day 8 points or 0.13% higher. This follows a decent night of trade on Wall Street which saw the Dow Jones rise 0.6%, the S&P 500 climb 0.6%, and the Nasdaq push 0.25% higher.

Newcrest fourth quarter update.

The Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) share price will be on watch today when it releases its fourth quarter and full year production update. According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, it is expecting quarterly gold production of 527,000 ounces. This compares to the consensus estimate of 542,000 ounces. This is expected to be achieved at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of US$860 an ounce. The consensus is expecting an AISC of US$887 an ounce.

Oil prices edge lower.

Energy producers such as Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) will be on watch today after oil prices edged lower. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is down 0.2% to US$41.83 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is down 0.15% to US$44.26 a barrel. A surprise build in U.S. inventories weighed on prices.

Gold price higher

It could be another positive day of trade for gold miners including Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST). Overnight the price of the precious metal surged to a seven-year high. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is up 1.5% to US$1,871.40 an ounce amid rising US-China tensions.

Budget day.

All eyes will be on Treasurer Josh Frydenberg today when he updates the nation on the state of the Australian economy. According to the ABC, Mr Frydenberg is expected to reveal the largest recorded deficit by an Australian government since World War II. Economists are tipping this deficit to be in the region of $200 billion in 2020-21.

More reading

• ASX 200 drops 1.3%, Resolute Mining soars
• Top brokers list the latest ASX small cap stocks to buy today
• The ASX sector that’s heading for a V-shape recovery
• QBE share price rises despite expected half year loss
• Are ASX tech shares in a bubble?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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