Tag: Motley Fool

It has been a disappointing start to the week for the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price.

In morning trade, the banking giant’s shares were down as much as 5.5% to $25.64.

Since then, the ANZ share price has pared some of these declines but remains down 2.5% to $26.43.

What is going on with the ANZ share price today?

Investors have been selling down the ANZ share price on Monday in response to the release of its first quarter update.

Although ANZ didn’t provide the market with financials, it provided enough colour on its performance to spook investors. This includes an 8-basis points reduction in its net interest margin (NIM) and a poor performance for its Markets business in October. The latter is expected to impact its first half results.

What are analysts saying?

A number of analysts have given their opinion on the bank’s update and, as you might have guessed from the ANZ share price, they weren’t particularly positive.

Over at UBS, courtesy of The Australian, its analysts note that “the revenue picture is softer than the market has pencilled in.”

And unlike rival Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), which is aiming to cut its cost base materially in the coming years, ANZ doesn’t have the cost release opportunities to offset these softer revenues.

The team at Goldman Sachs has also responded to the result. Its analysts appear disappointed with the update but were cautiously optimistic that the remainder of FY 2022 will be stronger.

Goldman commented: “Overall the update appears softer than what is implied by our current 1H22E forecasts but a number of the areas of softness (i.e. NIMs, expenses and Markets income) appear, at this stage, largely contained to the 1Q, with performance for the remainder of FY22 likely more consistent with our expectations.”

Both brokers currently have buy ratings on the ANZ share price. Though, that could change tomorrow when they’ve had enough time to update their financial models.

The post ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price sinks as top analysts respond to its Q1 update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: ANZ disappoints, Magellan shares crushed
• ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price on watch following first quarter update
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• Hunting for ASX shares? Experts say to avoid this sector in 2022
• 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares with attractive fully franked yields

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

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/0per62T

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price is heading south today despite the company’s latest investment.

At the time of writing, CBA shares are treading 0.38% lower to $93.74 apiece. It’s worth noting that the bank’s shares have lost around 7% in the past month.

CBA teams up with fintech Paypa Plane

In an announcement today, Australia’s largest bank advised that it has acquired a 20% stake in Brisbane-based fintech Paypa Plane.

Founded in 2018, Paypa Plane is a digital payments provider that helps businesses request and receive digital payments from customers.

Paypa Plane uses PayTo, a new payments platform-based product to allow businesses to make real-time direct debit payments to customers.

CBA’s investment is intended to create a digital link between a business and a payer, giving more control and transparency. This means it can provide significant cost savings and cash-flow assurance to businesses, as well as in-built compliance and customer care.

CBA group executive business banking Mike Vacy-Lyle commented:

Our partnership will accelerate CBA’s delivery of PayTo for our business customers and over time, open up other new capabilities to revolutionise the payments experience for businesses and consumers.

The New Payments Platform is a significant initiative for Australia’s digital economy and has already brought the benefits of real-time payments to consumers and businesses. Today’s announcement is part of our continued investment in our payments ecosystems, and the NPP, to bring the best payments experiences to our customers.

We want to help our business customers offer quality payment experiences that delight their customers, maximise their ability to get paid, and spend less time on administration and collections…

About the CBA share price

Over the past 12 months, the CBA share price has nudged up more than 5% in value. However, year to date, the company’s shares are down more than 7% amid weak investor sentiment.

On valuation grounds, CBA is the second-largest company on the ASX with a market capitalisation of approximately $159 billion.

The post CBA (ASX:CBA) share price stutters despite new fintech partnership appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Watch out! These 4 ASX shares have been tipped to disappoint during earnings season
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell next week
• Own CBA (ASX:CBA) shares? Here’s how the bank is investing in BNPL-style home loans
• Hunting for ASX shares? Experts say to avoid this sector in 2022
• What can the Westpac results tell us about the outlook for ASX 200 bank shares?

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 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.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/g749iKT

ASX travel shares are taking off today amid news a decision on international borders could be “imminent”.

Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN), Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) and Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) shares are climbing following rumblings tourists may soon be able to enter Australia.

Let’s look at what is at play today.

Decision on international border expected

Travel shares on the ASX could be gaining today in anticipation of an announcement on Australia’s borders.

Speculation is mounting that the Federal Government will reveal early this week when it will reopen borders to international tourists.

In an interview with ABC Insiders on Sunday, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said:

The next phase is to open to tourists. We need to bring those back so as soon as we can, we will be opening to international tourists – it’s imminent.

So, that is a priority for us now. And I know that the Prime Minister and I know that I have been working over the last few weeks in particular to make sure that we are ready to open to international tourists as soon as it is safe to do so. 

Further, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the reopening will be addressed in Parliament this week. This will come as welcome news to investors in ASX travel shares. In a press conference in Sydney on Sunday, Morrison commented:

As we go into this parliamentary week, there are many important matters that we’ll be addressing. One of those we will be addressing very early on is the issue of the opening up of our international borders to international visitors again. 

On Friday, the Qantas share price surged 4% after announcing changes to its frequent flyer program. The airline will cut the number of points required to book hotels or holiday packages. Also on Friday, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce compared the West Australian border restrictions to North Korea.

In comments reported on 7 News, Joyce said.

It’s starting to look like North Korea.

It’s going to be closed indefinitely at this stage unless we have a plan to start living with COVID and opening to up the rest of the country.

However, WA Premier Mark McGowan slightly eased restrictions on Saturday, despite the border reopening remaining on hold, the ABC reported. More compassionate exemptions for people with strong WA connections or medical reasons to travel are now in place.

Travel shares gain traction

At lunchtime on Monday, Qantas and Webjet shares are up 1.64% and 1.54%, respectively.

Meanwhile, ASX travel share Flight Centre is seeing the greatest surge on the back of the news, rising 4.5%. This continues a good run for the travel agent. Flight Centre was one of the best performers last week, gaining 10%.

As my Foolish colleague James noted, investors may be optimistic the travel market recovery is on the way.

The post Why are ASX travel shares Flight Centre (ASX:FLT), Qantas and Webjet lifting off today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week
• Frequent flyer: what changed for the Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price today?
• Here’s why the Webjet (ASX:WEB) share price is up 10% in a week
• ‘It’s a real blow’: Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) CEO weighs in on government’s latest vax plans

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 Flight Centre Travel Group Limited and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/Av08slc

The stomach-churning volatility that hit our markets since the start of the year does not bode well for ASX initial public offering (IPO) hopefuls.

This view was echoed by several experts who spoke with The Australian, even though they remain divided on whether this is the time to be picking up bargains after the big sell-off.

The turn in sentiment towards new floats follows a boom in ASX IPOs in 2021. The Australian Financial Review reported 240 listings last year – the highest number in 14 years!

ASX IPOs coming off a high in 2022

Many fund managers seem to believe that the IPO market will be more subdued this year. This includes Tribeca Investment Partners portfolio manager Jun Bei Liu.

“IPO timelines will have to be pushed out,” she told The Australian.

“We’ve seen some very expensive tech stocks debut recently that have performed very poorly and that doesn’t bode well for the sector.”

Why new floats look vulnerable to sinking

While many ASX IPOs may not be in the tech index, the sharp drop in IT shares around the world is a big turnoff for would-be investors.

This is primarily because of valuations. IPO wannabes want to sell their shares at a good premium, but the derating in the market that is characterised by the tech collapse will make this very difficult.

From this perspective, venture capitalists will be reluctant to float their private companies now, according to Steve Johnson of Forager Funds.

“I think activity in that space will be dramatically curtailed,” said Johnson. “The other thing that I think it curtails is their ability to raise and burn a lot of cash.”

New ASX IPOs versus established shares

If many market darlings are now trading at more attractive valuations after the pull-back, why would investors want to back an ASX IPO given that the newbie doesn’t have the same track record as its listed rivals?

Further, many companies hitting the bourse for the first time are operating at a loss. Investors are less willing to bet on their future growth due to the uncertainty caused by the sputtering COVID-19 recovery and rising interest rates.

Is this time to buy the dip?

Perhaps a more important question for ASX investors now is whether they should be buying the dip. There is much less consensus among the experts on this question.

Liu sees “plenty of bargains” and highlighted Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) shares as an example. Another she finds interesting is the WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) share price.

However, Johnson does not agree and warned the Wisetech share price still looks overvalued. He also issued a similar warning about the Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) share price.

“Megaport, on 20 times revenue, that’s just a very, very, very optimistic valuation,” he said.

“We could have a lot of our portfolio invested in this space, but I don’t want to do that until I see widespread distress.”

The post Are ASX IPOs in for a struggle in 2022 following the boom? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Melbana Energy (ASX:MAY) share price rockets 24% on ‘significant’ oil find
• Are index funds all you need to retire a millionaire?
• ‘Bumper crop’: Graincorp (ASX:GNC) share price rockets 13% on guidance update
• BetaShares just launched a new ASX ETF. Here’s what’s under the hood…
• Why are ASX COVID test shares climbing today?

Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended MEGAPORT FPO, WiseTech Global, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended WiseTech Global and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/KGuXTI3

The Melbana Energy Ltd (ASX: MAY) share price is off to the races today.

Shares in the ASX junior explorer are up 24.3% at time of writing, to 4.6 cents per share.

Below we take a look at the company’s latest oil exploration update that looks to be stoking ASX investor interest.

What drilling update was announced?

Melbana Energy’s share price is surging after the company reported it had intersected a “significant oil interval” at its Alameda-1 exploration well in its Block 9 contract area onshore Cuba.

Melbana said drilling overnight reached a depth of some 3,590 metres measured depth (MD) and 3,420 metres true vertical depth (TVD). At that depth “a lithology change was detected, potentially signifying the bottom of the reservoir”.

The company decided to call total depth for its current 8.5-inch section to preserve the oil already found there. It said, “The gas behaviour in this interval was better than anticipated and there have been significant oil shows present throughout on the shale shakers and in cuttings samples.”

Melbana is now preparing to log this section for a better grasp of the encountered hydrocarbons.

Commenting on the exploration, Melbana Energy executive chairman Andrew Purcell said:

This well is not affording much chance for rest for our hard-working team here on the ground in Cuba. But no one is complaining given what this well continues to tell us. We’re all looking forward to the results of the forthcoming logging program to learn more about this extensive oil interval we’ve intersected.

Melbana Energy share price snapshot

The Melbana Energy share price has rocketed 340% over the past 12 months, compared to 3% gain posted by the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).

Buoyed by soaring energy prices, which has seen crude oil trade at 7-year highs in the New Year, Melbana Energy shares are up 120% so far in 2022.

The post Melbana Energy (ASX:MAY) share price rockets 24% on ‘significant’ oil find appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Are index funds all you need to retire a millionaire?
• ‘Bumper crop’: Graincorp (ASX:GNC) share price rockets 13% on guidance update
• BetaShares just launched a new ASX ETF. Here’s what’s under the hood…
• Why are ASX COVID test shares climbing today?
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: ANZ disappoints, Magellan shares crushed

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/ujP0aHN

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

Can you put your money in nothing but boring S&P 500 index funds and grow your retirement nest egg to seven figures? The short answer is yes.

While the performance of the S&P 500 can vary dramatically from year to year, it is surprisingly consistent over multidecade periods. Depending on the exact period you’re looking at, the total return (including dividends) of the S&P 500 has historically averaged 9%-10% per year.

For our purposes, we’ll use the middle of this range — 9.5% — to keep things simple. If you’re relatively young and buy a low-cost S&P 500 index fund like the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO), it’s reasonable to expect this type of return over time.

While a gain of 9.5% in a single year might not sound thrilling, consider this: If you were to invest $65,700 in an S&P 500 index fund and averaged a 9.5% return each year, you’d have a million-dollar investment value in 30 years.

How much should you invest to reach seven figures?

Obviously, not everybody reading this has more than $65,000 just sitting around to put into an S&P 500 index fund.

With that in mind, here’s how much you should plan to invest monthly in S&P 500 index funds to retire a millionaire at age 65. If you’re relatively young, it might be less than you think.

Your Current Age	How Much to Invest Each Month
25	$216
30	$379
35	$557
40	$913
45	$1,540
50	$2,729

Data source: Author’s own calculations, using annual 9.5% compounding. Rounded to the nearest dollar.

If $1 million isn’t your goal, you can adjust these higher or lower. For example, if your goal is a $2 million nest egg, simply double the monthly savings account.

Two big caveats

No investment that can produce wealth like this is without risk and although the S&P 500 isn’t exactly a “high-risk” investment on a long-term basis, there are a couple of things to keep in mind.

For starters, in a real-world portfolio, you probably wouldn’t just invest in an S&P 500 index fund until you retire. As you get closer to retirement, your tolerance for big swings in your portfolio declines. Over the past 50 years, the S&P 500 has gained or lost as much as 37% in a single year — if you’re 65, do you really want your savings to fluctuate that much?

So, as you get closer to retirement, you’ll probably want to gradually shift some of your savings into lower-volatility (but lower-return) investments like bonds and CDs.

It’s also important to mention inflation, especially because it’s running relatively high right now. In short, $1 million in 30 years isn’t going to be the same thing as $1 million today.

However, the point is that it is certainly possible to retire a millionaire with S&P 500 index funds if you can stomach the volatility. If not, you might want to err on the side of caution and plan to invest a little extra each month to compensate for this gradual asset shift over time.

Warren Buffett’s favorite investment

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is widely considered one of the best stock-pickers of all time but has said that low-cost index fund investing — and an S&P 500 index fund in particular — is the best way to invest for the majority of Americans. In fact, Buffett has even advised his own wife to invest her inheritance this way after he’s gone.

In a nutshell, while we wholeheartedly believe it’s possible to beat the market with individual stocks, the reality is that many people don’t have the time, knowledge, or desire to research and select stocks properly. And that’s OK. As Buffett says, “It is not necessary to do extraordinary things to get extraordinary results.”

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post Are index funds all you need to retire a millionaire? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ‘Bumper crop’: Graincorp (ASX:GNC) share price rockets 13% on guidance update
• BetaShares just launched a new ASX ETF. Here’s what’s under the hood…
• Why are ASX COVID test shares climbing today?
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: ANZ disappoints, Magellan shares crushed
• 2 ASX 200 shares that could make it rain dividends: experts

Matthew Frankel, CFP® has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns and recommends Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/Ez8JQyk

The GrainCorp Ltd (ASX: GNC) share price is storming higher following the company’s business update to investors this morning.

At the time of writing, the grain exporter’s shares are up a sizeable 12.76% to $8.13. In comparison, the All Ordinaries (ASX: XAO) is down 0.37% to 7,391.6 points.

What did GrainCorp announce?

Investors are fighting to get a hold of GrainCorp shares after the company provided its FY22 earnings guidance.

According to its release, GrainCorp advised that it expects to report a bumper FY22 result subject to several market variables.

As such, the company is forecasting earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in the range of $480 million to $540 million. This reflects a potential increase of up to 63.14% based on FY21’s EBITDA result of $331 million.

In addition, FY22 net profit after tax (NPAT) is estimated to come between $235 million and $280 million. When comparing against FY21’s NPAT of $139 million, this represents a potential gain of up to 101%.

Management noted several factors which have led GrainCorp to achieve a strong outlook for FY22. This includes its supply chain execution, continued delivery of operating initiatives, and high global demand for Australian grain and oilseeds.

The company faced numerous challenges such as flooding and a wet, interrupted harvest, whilst working under COVID-19 restrictions.

While minimal supply chain issues were experienced, over 1.5 million tonnes of additional storage capacity were provided for growers. This resulted in multiple site receival records across the network for the 21/22 harvest.

Combined grain intake across the harvest period has totalled 13.7mmt year-to-date, supplemented with a high opening grain inventory position of 4.3mmt.

GrainCorp expects to see total receivals of 16mmt to 17mmt (FY21: 16.5mmt), and exports of 8.5mmt to 9.5mmt (FY21: 7.9mmt) for FY22.

Management commentary

GrainCorp managing director and CEO Robert Spurway touched on the company’s performance, saying:

GrainCorp delivered an excellent result in FY21, and I am pleased to report that we expect this performance to be further improved in FY22.

In addition to a second consecutive bumper crop and the global demand for Australian grain, our strong start to FY22 demonstrates the efficiency of our supply chain and the resilience of our industry.

…The strong harvest, coupled with supply shortages and adverse weather conditions in the northern hemisphere, is driving excellent global demand for Australian grain and oilseeds and strong supply chain margins for grain exports.

GrainCorp share price summary

Over the past 12 months, the GrainCorp share price has increased 96%. The company’s shares are down 2% year to date but are within reach of their 52-week high of $8.70.

Based on today’s price, GrainCorp presides a market capitalisation of around $1.86 billion, with approximately 228.86 million shares outstanding.

The post ‘Bumper crop’: GrainCorp (ASX:GNC) share price rockets 13% on guidance update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: ANZ disappoints, Magellan shares crushed
• Why BrainChip, GrainCorp, Redbubble, and Zip shares are dropping today

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 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.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/8iOEKoq

The ASX is home to what seems like an ever-growing pile of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). From the rise of the humble index fund two decades ago, the ASX ETF sector has blossomed over the past few years. You can now find an ASX ETF that covers just about every sector or theme you can think of. Well, this trend is set to continue with the launch of a new ETF from BetaShares. Today, the ASX welcomes the BetaShares Australian Composite Bond ETF (ASX: OZBD).

This new ETF is hardly the first fund on the ASX that covers fixed-interest investments. It’s not even the first BetaShares fund that does so. But it is BetaShares’ first ETF that tracks both government and corporate bonds, hence the ‘composite’. The provider tells us that OZBD is “designed to be a core portfolio allocation for fixed income”. It will hold both government bonds as well as “high-quality Australian corporate” bonds.

Bonds are also known as ‘fixed-interest investments’ and are a popular alternative to shares. Bonds can provide a steadier stream of income than shares and are often added to an investment portfolio to improve stability and reduce volatility (although that is never guaranteed, of course).

BetaShares launches new bond ETF. What’s the deal?

So what makes the BetaShares Australian Composite Bond ETF different? This ETF reportedly takes a different approach to bond selection. It weighs bonds by using a “risk-adjusted income potential” rather than debt weighting. This, according to the provider, will aim to “provide investors with higher returns than the most commonly used Australian fixed income benchmark, the AusBond Composite Index (AusBond)”.

To kick things off, OZBD has started life with a running yield of 2.78% per annum. Its average bond maturity is 7.52 years and it has an average yield to maturity of 2.46%.

Its largest holdings are sovereign Australian government bonds, followed by corporate bonds of Ausnet Services Ltd (ASX: AST), Inter-American Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, Lloyds Banking Group, and Vodafone.

The index that this fund tracks has returned an average of 3.71% per annum over the past 5 years. It will charge a management fee of 0.19% per annum.

So far this Monday, BetaShares Australian Composite Bond ETF has lost 0.4% in its first morning of trading and is currently being priced at $49.67 per unit.

 

The post BetaShares just launched a new ASX ETF. Here’s what’s under the hood… appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ‘Bumper crop’: GrainCorp (ASX:GNC) share price rockets 13% on guidance update
• Why are ASX COVID test shares climbing today?
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: ANZ disappoints, Magellan shares crushed
• 2 ASX 200 shares that could make it rain dividends: experts
• Could IAG (ASX:IAG) shares become suddenly sexy amid rising interest rates?

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/fvYDyb3

ASX COVID-19 test shares are in the green today amid a federal government announcement. This morning Treasurer Josh Frydenberg outlined the government’s plan to make the tests tax deductible.

ASX-listed companies that manufacture COVID-19 tests include Atomo Diagnostics Ltd (ASX: AT1), Lumos Diagnostics Holdings Ltd (ASX: LDX) and AnteoTech Ltd (ASX: ADO.

Atomo’s share price is currently climbing 1.19% today, while Lumos is in the green 2.49 and Anteotech is jumping 6.98%.

Let’s take a look at the news that could be giving these shares a bump today.

Tax deductible COVID-19 tests

COVID-19 tests for people who need them for work will be tax deductible from this year, the Financial Review reported.

Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL) and Healius Ltd (ASX: HLS) process COVID-19 tests in Australia. Sonic has conducted millions of PCR tests, while Healius is processing 40,000 COVID-19 tests every day.

Treasurer Frydenberg will discuss the tax deduction policy in a speech to the Australian Industry Group today. In a copy of the speech, reported by the SBS, he states:

Today, I’m announcing that we will ensure that COVID-19 testing expenses are tax deductible for testing taken to attend a place of work, giving businesses and individuals more clarity and assurance.

We will also ensure that fringe benefits tax will not be incurred by employers where COVID-19 tests are provided to employees for this purpose.

The Lumos share price surged 5% last week on news the Victorian Government intends to support local manufacturing of its RAT tests.

Atomo secured up to 20 million COVID-19 rapid antigen tests for Australia and New Zealand in 2022, my Foolish colleague Aaron reported in January.

Anteotech is still awaiting Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approval for use of its COVID-19 rapid antigen test in Australia.

Ellume is another Australian company working on TGA approval to sell its RATs in Australia. However, it is not listed on the ASX.

Share price recap

Some COVID-19 test shares have benefitted from the pandemic, making major gains in the past 52 weeks.

In the past year, Anteotech has rocketed 27%, while Sonic has surged 9% and Healius has gained 8%.

However, that’s not true across the board. The Atomo share price has slumped 27% while the Lumos share price is down 17%.

In contrast, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has returned more than 3.4% in the past year.

The post Why are ASX COVID test shares climbing today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 ASX shares every dividend investor needs to know about
• The Lumos Diagnostics (ASX:LDX) share price is soaring another 8% today. Here’s why
• Why the Lumos Diagnostics (ASX:LDX) share price is up 15% today
• 2 great value ASX dividend shares that brokers love
• AnteoTech (ASX:AD) share price surges 15% as COVID-19 RAT race continues

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 Sonic Healthcare Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/p9YTrUZ

At lunch on Monday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to start the week with a decline. The benchmark index is currently down 0.45% to 7,087.4 points.

Here’s what is happening on the ASX 200 today:

ANZ share price falls on Q1 update

The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price has tumbled lower today following the release of its first quarter update. While the bank didn’t provide the market with financials, it did advise that a poor performance for its Markets business in October is expected to impact its first half results. ANZ also revealed that its net interest margin (NIM) fell 8 basis points during the quarter.

Magellan shares sink

The Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) share price is crashing lower on Monday following the release of another disappointing funds under management update and news that its Chairman and Chief Investment Officer, Hamish Douglass, is taking a leave of absence. This follows “a period of intense pressure and focus on both his professional and personal life.”

James Hardie Q3 update

The James Hardie Industries plc (ASX: JHX) share price is rising today following the release of its third quarter update. The building products company reported a 22% increase in global net sales to US$900 million and a 25% lift in adjusted net income to US$154.1 million. Management advised that this reflects strong price/mix growth in all three regions.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Monday has been the Graincorp Ltd (ASX: GNC) share price with a 13% gain. This morning the grain exporter revealed that it expects FY 2022’s underlying net profit after tax to come in at $235 million to $280 million. This is up from $139 million in FY 2021. The worst performer has been the Magellan share price with an 11% decline following its two aforementioned announcements.

The post ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: ANZ disappoints, Magellan shares crushed appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 ASX 200 shares that could make it rain dividends: experts
• Could IAG (ASX:IAG) shares become suddenly sexy amid rising interest rates?
• ‘Plenty of bargains’ following ASX tech shares sell-off: expert
• James Hardie (ASX:JHX) share price up as company cements trading gains
• Top broker picks 6 ASX 200 shares with earnings surprise potential

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 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.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/o2GEHMp