Category: Stock Market

The Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1) dividend received a nice boost following the company’s FY21 full-year results yesterday.

No doubt, investors will be licking their lips when the footwear retailer pays the final dividend next month.

Below we take a look at Accent’s FY21 scorecard and its dividend.

How did Accent perform in FY21?

The footwear retailer delivered outstanding growth for the 12 months ending 27 June 2021.

The group recorded total sales of $1.14 billion, up 19.9% over the prior corresponding period. Sales momentum continued throughout the year, with strong demand via its digital segment. Online sales soared by 48.5% to $209.9 million, accounting for 21% of Accent’s total retail sales.

In addition, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) improved to $242 million, up 19.3%. while net profit after tax (NPAT) surged to $76.9 million, up 38.6%.

In light of the robust performance, the Accent board decided to bump up its fully-franked full-year dividend to 11.25 cents per share. This makes up a final dividend of 3.25 cents and the interim dividend of 8 cents declared in February 2021.

Based on the current Accent share price of $2.26 apiece, this gives the company a trailing dividend yield of just over 4.9%.

Accent chair David Gordon highlighted the company’s achievement, saying:

The Accent team has delivered another excellent year. Consistent with our policy, no JobKeeper funds have been used in the calculation or payment of management bonuses or shareholder dividends.

… It is a testimony to that effort that we have achieved another record profit and record dividend this year.

Accent dividend key dates

Accent released the distribution amount and payment dates of its final dividend for the 2021 financial year yesterday. Here’s a summary of the important dates Accent shareholders will need to know.

Ex-dividend date

The ex-dividend date will be 8 September 2021.

Typically, one day before the record date, the ex-dividend date is when investors must have purchased Accent shares. If the investor does not buy Accent shares before this date, the dividend will go to the seller.

Record date

The record date for Accent’s final dividend is 9 September 2021.

Essentially acting as the cut-off date, this is the date where the company identifies which investors are on its register. Those who are on Accent’s books will be eligible to receive its upcoming dividend.

Payment date

The payment date for Accent’s dividend will be 16 September 2021.

This is when investors can expect to see the final dividend of 3.25 cents per share land in their accounts.

The post The Accent (ASX:AX1) dividend has lifted by 22% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• How did the Accent (ASX:AX1) share price respond last earnings season?

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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 Accent Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK) share price has been a very strong performer over the last 12 months.

During this time, the job listings giant’s shares have stormed a remarkable 57% higher.

This is almost triple the return of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) over the same period.

Can the SEEK share price keep rising?

The good news for investors is that one leading broker still sees a lot of value in the SEEK share price.

According to a note out of Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) from the middle of June, its analysts upgraded the company’s shares to an outperform rating with an improved price target of $40.00.

Based on the latest SEEK share price of $31.05, this implies potential upside of 29% over the next 12 months.

Why is Macquarie positive on SEEK?

The note reveals that Macquarie believes SEEK could increase the yields on its ads by almost 25% before it expects there to be any push back from recruiters and impacts on ad volumes.

This follows a survey of recruiters by Macquarie which suggests that it has plenty of room to move on pricing.

In addition, another positive for SEEK is that the broker expects the company’s removal of discounts to provide a near term yield tailwind.

Finally, with the broker forecasting a sizeable reduction in Australian unemployment rate over the next few years, it expects this to underpin strong ad volumes growth in FY 2022. Particularly given SEEK’s leadership position.

Is anyone else bullish?

Another broker that sees value in the SEEK share price is UBS. Last week the broker retained its buy rating and $35.00 price target on the company’s shares.

Based on the latest SEEK share price, this implies attractive upside of almost 13% over the next 12 months.

SEEK is due to release its full year results on 24 August.

The post Why this leading broker thinks the SEEK (ASX:SEK) share price is a buy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of SEEK Limited. 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 SEEK Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH) share price will be one to watch on Friday.

This follows the release of the hearing solutions company’s full year results this morning.

Cochlear share price on watch after achieving guidance

• Cochlear implant units up 15% to 36,456
• Sales revenue up 10% to $1,493.3 million
• Underlying net profit up 54% to $236.7 million (compared to guidance of $225 million to $245 million)
• Net profit margin expanded from 11% to 16%
• Underlying earnings per share up 40% to $3.60
• Full year dividend up 59% to $2.55
• IT systems upgrade to cost $100‐$120 million over the next four to five years
• FY 2022 guidance: Net profit growth of 12% to 20%

What happened in FY 2021 for Cochlear?

For the 12 months ended 30 June, Cochlear returned to form and reported a 10% increase in revenue to $1,493.3 million. This growth was driven by solid performances across all its segments, which could bode well for the Cochlear share price today.

Cochlear implants revenue increased 10% to $898.6 million, Services revenue rose 11% to $438.5 million, and Acoustics revenue jumped 12% to $156.2 million.

Things were even better on the bottom line thanks to margin expansion. Cochlear reported underlying net profit after tax growth of 54% to $237 million. This was within its guidance range of $225 million to $245 million. Management advised that this strong growth reflects strong trading, market share gains, market growth, and rescheduled surgeries from FY 2020.

However, while Cochlear’s profit was within its guidance range, it appears to have fallen short of the market’s expectations. According to CommSec, the analyst consensus was a net profit after tax of $245.5 million. This could potentially weigh on the Cochlear share price today.

What did management say?

Management appears pleased with the company’s performance during the 12 months.

It said: “During FY21 we have been focused on ensuring we emerge from the pandemic in a stronger competitive position, with our strategic priorities continuing to guide our investments. Over the past 12 months, we have maintained our people and market presence, ensuring the health and safety of our employees while providing ongoing support to our recipients, clinics and professional customers.”

“Our focus on long‐term growth has continued with increasing levels of investment across R&D projects and market growth activities. Despite the challenging trading conditions, new products have been successfully launched across all product categories, with market share gains realised in many markets.“

What’s next for Cochlear?

One thing that could boost the Cochlear share price today is management’s guidance for the year ahead.

It expects its net profit after tax to grow between 12% and 20% to $265 million and $285 million in FY 2022. This reflects market growth, a continuing recovery in surgery rates, investment in market growth activities, and some near‐term COVID impact.

Though, it has warned that a more material disruption from COVID remains a risk factor that does not form part of its guidance.

Cochlear share price performance

The Cochlear share price has been an exceptionally strong performer in 2021. Since the start of the year, its shares have stormed 35% higher.

This is triple the return of the ASX 200 over the same period.

The post Cochlear (ASX:COH) share price on watch after hitting FY21 earnings guidance appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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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. owns shares of and has recommended Cochlear Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Cochlear Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price has gained 35% since this time last year. This comes as the retail conglomerate enjoys improved trading conditions despite COVID-19 affecting Australia’s wider economy.

During Thursday’s trading session, Wesfarmers shares touched a new all-time high of $66.16. At market close, its shares finished the day up 1.73%, trading at $65.99.

Why is the Wesfarmers share price pushing higher?

Investors are pushing up the Wesfarmers share price despite no market-sensitive news coming from the company since July.

According to its last update, Wesfarmers proposed a takeover to acquire 100% of Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ASX: API). The $687 million offer came as the retail conglomerate seeks to further diversify its growing portfolio with entry into the pharmaceutical market.

The news sent Wesfarmers shares flying from the time of the release and in the following weeks.

However, the API board recently rejected the offer, indicating that the proposal undervalued the business.

At this stage, Wesfarmers has not increased its bid to API shareholders.

How much is Wesfarmers forecasted to pay in dividends?

With the company scheduled to report its full-year results on 27 August, investors may be wondering about the dividend payments.

Wesfarmers paid a fully franked dividend of 88 cents per share in March for the first half of FY21, slightly below the 95 cents in the prior period (FY20). That dividend payment comprised 77 cents along with a special dividend of 18 cents per share.

Goldman Sachs is forecasting a total FY21 dividend payment of $1.84 cents, implying a 96 cents per share final dividend payment. This would give Wesfarmers a fully-franked current dividend yield of 2.78%. Not a bad return when including the strong Wesfarmers share price rise.

The company has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 39.37 and commands a market capitalisation of roughly $74.8 billion.

The post The Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price is trading on a forecast 2.78% fully franked dividend yield appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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 owns shares of and has recommended Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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It has been a great month so far for the Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price.

Since the start of August, the telco giant’s shares have risen 5%.

As a comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has recorded a 1% gain over the period.

Why is the Telstra share price outperforming this month?

Investors have been bidding the Telstra share price higher this month after the market responded positively to the release of its full year results.

In case you missed it, for the 12 months ended 30 June, Telstra reported an 11.6% reduction in total income to $23.1 billion and a 9.7% decline in underlying EBITDA to $6.7 billion. The latter was within the company’s guidance range of $6.6 billion to $6.9 billion.

This allowed Telstra to maintain its fully franked 16 cents per share dividend.

Share buyback

Also giving the Telstra share price a big lift was its announcement of a major share buyback.

In respect to the former, the company has decided to return $1.35 billion to shareholders via an on-market share buyback. This follows the recent InfraCo Towers transaction.

Telstra CEO, Andy Penn, commented: “When we launched T22, we committed to establishing a standalone infrastructure business unit for three reasons: to give transparency of those assets, to bring a harder commercial edge to how we operationalise them, and to create optionality with a view to maximising shareholder value. This share buy-back is a clear demonstration of how we are creating additional long-term value for our shareholders.”

Improving outlook

Finally, arguably giving the Telstra share price the biggest boost was its outlook commentary.

Mr Penn said: “We are clearly building financial momentum and I am very pleased to be able to say that our underlying business will return to full-year growth in FY22. We have confidence because we see strong performance in our mobile business, continued discipline on our cost reduction target, green shoots in some of our growth businesses and a diminishing impact from the nbn.”

Telstra is guiding to underlying EBITDA of $7 billion to $7.3 billion in FY 2022. This represents year on year growth of 4.5% to 9%.

The Telstra share price is now up 32% in 2021.

The post August has been a great month so far for the Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG) share price spent yesterday in the red after the company posted a $2.2 billion loss for the 2021 financial year (FY21).

After such a hit to its bottom line, it probably didn’t shock investors that Origin had cut its final dividend. The company’s final dividend for FY21 will be unfranked and worth 7.5 cents. That’s 2.5 cents less than the fully franked final dividend Origin handed its shareholders in FY20.

On the back of the news, the Origin share price fell a hefty 4.12%. It finished the day at $4.19.

Let’s see just how far the company’s dividends fell in FY21.

The fall of the Origin dividend

The Origin share price had a tough run on the ASX yesterday, as news swirled the company had cut its dividend again.

Yesterday, the company announced it will be giving its shareholders a 7.5-cent unfranked final dividend in October 2021.

Including its previous interim dividend – worth 12.5 cents and unfranked – Origin handed 20 cents per share back to its investors in financial year 2021.

That’s significantly less than what it gave out during financial year 2020. In fact, it’s 20% less.

At the end of the 2020 financial year, Origin handed out a 10-cent final dividend. That was after it gave its shareholders a 15-cent final dividend in March.

Not to mention, the company’s 2020 financial year interim dividend was fully franked. Some investors see greater value in franked dividends as, in some instances, they can be used to lower an investor’s tax bill.

Of course, a company generally has to post a profit and, therefore, pay tax before it can give out franked dividends. That’s a feat the company didn’t manage to do in the 2021 financial year.

Origin’s 2021 financial year final dividend is also the smallest dividend it’s paid since 2005. At least back then its dividend was fully franked.

The post The Origin (ASX:ORG) dividend has dropped 20% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia 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 Bruce Jackson.

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ASX tech shares could be the right place to look for strong opportunities with good growth potential.

Technology companies typically have higher gross profit margins than ‘normal’ businesses because of the offering, which is often intangible. It’s very easy to transmit a digital service than ship a physical couch.

These two ASX tech shares could be long-term opportunities:

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

Xero has become one of the world’s largest accounting software companies.

It has a very strong market position with small and medium businesses in Australia and New Zealand, with 1.1 million and 446,000 subscribers respectively.

But it’s also growing at a very solid pace in other areas around the world. For example, in the UK it had 720,000 subscribers at the end of FY21. In North American it had 285,000 subscribers and in the ‘rest of the world’ it had 175,000 subscribers.

Xero has a very high gross profit margin. In FY21 it had risen to 86%, up from 85.2% in FY20.

Its subscriber value and revenue numbers continue to grow each year. In FY21, it saw 18% revenue growth to NZ$848.8 million. The annualised monthly recurring revenue (AMRR) rose 17% to NZ$963.6 million. The total lifetime value of subscribers increased 38% to NZ$7.65 billion.

In FY21, the ASX tech share generated free cashflow of NZ$56.9 million despite all of the investing it’s doing.

Xero says that it will continue to focus on growing its global small business platform and maintain a preference for reinvesting cash generated to drive long-term shareholder value.

Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ)

This exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a portfolio of 100 of the largest non-financial businesses on the NASDAQ, which is a stock exchange in the US.

It happens to be the home of many of the world’s biggest tech companies, which means it owns a number of strong global tech companies with very resilient economic moats.

Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF has holdings like Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet (Google), Facebook, Amazon. It would be a hard job for any business to try to disrupt these juggernauts.

Microsoft has a suite of strong offerings for clients and consumers like its Office tools, Outlook email, LinkedIn and Xbox. Apple has a big market share of smartphone hardware and services, whilst Alphabet is in the smartphone world, online video, search and so on.

The Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF also has numerous other businesses in the portfolio that are among the global leaders at what they do. Businesses like PayPal, Netflix, Adobe, PepsiCo, Costco, Moderna and Intuit are just a few of the other names in the portfolio.

As a group of businesses, this ETF owns many competitively advantages businesses. This has shown up in the net returns of the ASX tech share, with an average return per annum of 27.2% over the last five years. But past performance is no guarantee of future performance.

The post 2 strong ASX tech shares that might be good buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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. owns shares of and has recommended BETANASDAQ ETF UNITS and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended BETANASDAQ ETF UNITS and Xero. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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With interest rates at ultra low levels and likely to stay that way for some time to come, dividend shares continue to be a great alternative to traditional interest-bearing assets such as term deposits.

But which dividend shares could be buys? Here are two highly rated ASX dividend shares to look at:

Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1)

The first ASX dividend share to look at is Accent. It is a retail group with a collection of popular footwear-focused store brands. These include stores such as HYPEDC, Platypus, Sneaker Lab, Stylerunner, and The Athlete’s Foot.

Accent was a very strong performer in FY 2021 and has just released its full year results. Those results revealed a 19.9% increase in sales to $1.14 billion and a 38.6% jump in net profit after tax to $76.9 million. This allowed the Accent Board to increase its full year dividend by 21.6% to 11.25 cents in FY 2021.

Bell Potter has responded to the release by retaining its buy rating but trimming its price target to $2.90.

While the broker expects FY 2022’s result to be softer due to lockdowns and elevated sales in FY 2021, it remains positive on the future. Bell Potter has pencilled in dividends per share of 9 cents in FY 2022 and 13 cents in FY 2023.

Based on the latest Accent share price of $2.26, this represents yields of 4% and 5.8%, respectively.

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

Another ASX dividend share to look at is Telstra. It could be a top option due to its increasingly positive outlook thanks to its leadership position with 5G, asset monetisation, cost cutting, and rational competition.

Combined, these are expected to allow the company to return to growth next year at long last.

Goldman Sachs is positive on Telstra and currently has a buy rating and $4.30 price target on its shares. The broker is also forecasting fully franked dividends of 16 cents per share through to FY 2023. After which, it is expecting a long-awaited dividend increase to 18 cents per share in FY 2024.

Based on the current Telstra share price of $3.97, this will mean 4% yields until an increase to 4.5% in FY 2024.

The post 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• The Accent (ASX:AX1) dividend has lifted by 22%
• August has been a great month so far for the Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price
• Accent (ASX:AX1) share price slides despite strong sales growth
• Accent (ASX:AX1) share price on watch following record FY21 results
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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 no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Accent Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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There are some leading ASX growth shares that might be worth looking at after they delivered their results recently.

The below two companies are ones that are expecting to deliver substantial profit growth over the next year or two.

They are also companies that speak of rising operating leverage as they get bigger.

Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD)

Corporate Travel is one of the world’s largest corporate travel businesses.

FY21 was obviously heavily impacted by COVID-19, restrictions and lack of travel but the company is expecting a recovery.

Indeed, the fourth quarter of FY21 showed positive profit numbers (as opposed to losses).

In earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) terms, Corporate Travel made a loss of $8.2 million in the second quarter, a $5.5 million loss in the third quarter and generated $13.6 million of EBITDA in the fourth quarter.

Corporate Travel’s FY21 second half showed 199% half on half growth of total transaction value (TTV) to $1.2 billion and 70% half on half growth of revenue and other income to $126.3 million.

The company also said that the ANZ region was profitable throughout FY21 despite continuing border closures.

After the year end, July delivered a record post-COVID revenue result. The ASX growth share noted that July defied the seasonal activity reduction in North America and Europe during the seasonal vacation period.

The company has no debt and finished the period with $99 million of cash. It’s targeting a return to dividends in the 2022 calendar year.

Corporate Travel Management managing director Jamie Pherous said:

After the Travel & Transport acquisition, CTM is now estimated to be the world’s fourth largest global travel management company. Through our recent acquisitions, realised synergies and permanent reductions to our cost base we expect the business will deliver material accretion to group earnings post-COVID.

Airtasker Ltd (ASX: ART)

The marketplace business was another ASX growth share to report its result to the market.

In FY21, Airtasker recorded revenue growth of 38% to $26.6 million. This was ahead of the prospectus forecast of $24.5 million.

Gross marketplace volume (GMV) also beat the prospectus forecast (of $143.7 million), rising 35% year on year to $153.1 million.

Whilst starting from a low base, the UK marketplace saw accelerating GMV growth – it was up 232% year on year and 93% quarter on quarter.

The ASX growth said that the Zaarly integration and US expansion planning is progressing well.

‘Underlying pro forma EBITDA’ was $0 million, compared to a loss of $4 million in FY20. It also made positive operating cash flow of $5.5 million, which beat the prospectus forecast of $0.1 million.

Coming into the result, the broker Morgans rated Airtasker as a buy with a price target of $1.29, which is still materially higher than where Airtasker is today. The broker was attracted to the growth potential in the US and UK, with Airtasker accelerating its plans.

The company ended FY21 with $45.9 million of cash, which it was ready to invest into accelerating its international expansion. Airtasker reported that its gross profit margin was 93% in FY21.

The post 2 top ASX growth shares that could be buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Airtasker (ASX:ART) share price jumps 3% as FY21 results top forecasts
• Corporate Travel (ASX: CTD) share price lifts on FY21 earnings
• How did the Corporate Travel (ASX:CTD) share price respond last earnings season?
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• Are you a ‘Catch and Release’ investor?

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 recommended Airtasker Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Corporate Travel Management Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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On Thursday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) continued its poor run and tumbled lower. The benchmark index fell 0.5% to end the day at 7,464.6 points.

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

ASX 200 expected to rebound

The Australian share market looks set to end the week on a positive note. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 39 points or 0.5% higher. This follows a mixed night on Wall Street, which saw the Dow Jones fall 0.2%, the S&P 500 climb 0.1%, and the Nasdaq rise 0.1%.

Cochlear full year results

The Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH) share price will be one to watch today when it hands in its full year results. According to CommSec, the market is expecting the hearing solutions company to report a full year net profit after tax of $245.5 million. A dividend of $1.28 per share is expected to be declared.

Oil prices fall

Energy producers such as Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could end the week in the red after oil prices fell overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is down 2.1% to US$64.08 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is down 1.9% to US$66.91 a barrel. This was the sixth day of declines in a row amid fears of slowing global economic growth.

Sydney Airport results

The Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) share price could be on the move today when it releases its half year results. Due to the negative impact of COVID-19, the airport operator is expected to post a sizeable loss. According to CommSec, the analyst consensus estimate is a loss of $225 million for that half.

Gold price edges lower

Gold miners Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) and St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) will be on watch after the gold price edged lower. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 0.1% to US$1,783.10 an ounce. The price of the precious metal slipped after the US dollar strengthened.

The post 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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. owns shares of and has recommended Cochlear Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Cochlear Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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