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On Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was out of form again and dropped into the red. The benchmark index fell 0.15% to 7,399.4 points.

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

ASX 200 expected to fall

The Australian share market looks set to drop again on Thursday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 13 points or 0.2% lower this morning. This follows a poor night on Wall Street, which in late trade sees the Dow Jones down 0.25%, the S&P 500 down 0.1%, and the Nasdaq down a few points.

Oil prices edge lower

Energy shares including Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could have a soft day after oil prices edged lower overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is down 0.2% to US$78.36 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has fallen 0.2% to US$82.16 a barrel. Oil reserve releases are weighing on prices.

Rio Tinto shares named as a buy

The Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price could be great value according to the team at Goldman Sachs. This morning the broker has retained its buy rating and $121.00 price target on them mining giant’s shares. This is due to its attractive valuation, strong free cash flow, production growth potential, and its exposure to low emission aluminium.

Gold price falls

Gold miners Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL) could have a subdued day after the gold price edged lower. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 0.05% to US$1,783.1 an ounce. The gold price slipped amid the release of strong US economic data.

Annual general meetings

There are a number of ASX 200 shares holding their annual general meetings on Thursday. These companies could also provide investors with trading updates at their respective events. Among the shares holding meetings are gold miner Evolution Mining, financial services company IOOF Holdings Limited (ASX: IFL), and struggling ecommerce company Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN).

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

More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts on Wednesday
• Here’s why Macquarie sees 39% upside in the Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) share price
• Why Webjet, Whispir, Whitehaven Coal, and Woodside shares are pushing higher
• Biden taps oil reserve. What could this mean for ASX oil shares?

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 Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Kogan.com 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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If you’re planning to make some investments in the near future, then you may want to look at the shares listed below.

These three shares have been tipped as buys by leading brokers. Here’s what they are saying about them:

Adore Beauty Group Limited (ASX: ABY)

Adore Beauty is a leading online retailer in the $11.2 billion Australian beauty and personal care (BPC) market. It has been growing strongly over the last few years thanks to its highly successful business model. The company’s integrated model combines online retail with education and entertainment, making its website a destination for consumers even when they’re not purchasing items. Though, plenty of consumers still visit its website to buy items! During the first quarter of FY 2022, Adore Beauty reported revenue of $63.8 million, up 25% on the prior corresponding period. This is still only a small slice of its addressable market.

UBS is positive on Adore Beauty. It currently has a buy rating and $6.00 price target.

Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL)

Aristocrat Leisure is a global gaming technology company with a growing portfolio of poker machines and digital games. The latter includes the hugely popular RAID franchise. In addition, Aristocrat Leisure is in the process of acquiring London-listed leading global online gambling software and content supplier, Playtech, for $5 billion. If this deal goes through, it is expected to be a major boost to its earnings.

Morgans is a fan of Aristocrat Leisure. It currently has an add rating and $52.50 price target on its shares.

Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP)

Bapcor is the Asia Pacific region’s leading provider of vehicle parts, accessories, equipment, service and solutions. Thanks to its strong market position, acquisitions, and the expansion of its store footprint, it has been growing at a solid rate in recent years. Positively, these trends continue, particularly for its expansion plans, with management highlighting a significant opportunity in Asia. And while the announcement of the retirement of its long-serving CEO has created some uncertainty, the selloff that ensued afterwards could be a buying opportunity for investors.

Citi is positive on Bapcor. It has a buy rating and $8.75 price target on its shares.

The post 3 top ASX shares named as buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today

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 recommended Adore Beauty Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Adore Beauty Group Limited and Bapcor. 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 a good number of shares for investors to choose from on the Australian share market.

Three that could be top options right now are listed below. Here’s why analysts think they are in the buy zone:

Elders Ltd (ASX: ELD)

Elders is one of Australia’s largest agribusiness companies. After going through a very tough time during the 2010s, things are now looking increasingly positive for the company. This has been driven largely by the success of Elders’ transformation plan and acquisitions. Pleasingly, Goldman Sachs is confident this positive form will continue. So much so, its analysts have a conviction buy rating and $15.65 price target on its shares. The broker likes Elders due to the rationalisation of the rural services industry, margin expansion through backward integration, its strong balance sheet and cash flow, and the benefits of its large scale systems modernisation project.

Healius Ltd (ASX: HLS)

Healius is one of Australia’s leading pathology and diagnostic imaging providers. Its healthcare network has been performing particularly positively over the last 18 months thanks to a robust performance from its core business and elevated demand for COVID-19 testing. The good news is that this has continued in FY 2022. For example, during the first quarter, Healius reported a 43.7% increase in group quarterly revenue to $689.9 million. And while its growth rate will inevitably slow once testing demand eases, the team at Macquarie still see a lot of value in its shares at the current level. The broker currently has an outperform rating and $5.65 price target on its shares.

ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD)

ResMed is a medical device company with a focus on the sleep treatment market. Its masks and software help sufferers of afflictions such as sleep apnoea and COPD. These are huge markets, which provide ResMed with a long runway for growth over the next decade. Particularly given its industry leadership position and high level of investment in research and development. The latter is keeping its portfolio filled with world class products. Morgans is a fan of ResMed and has an add rating and $40.80 price target on its shares.

The post Analysts name 3 ASX shares to buy now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 ASX shares that could slump this week
• 3 ASX shares Goldman Sachs rates as conviction buys
• Here’s what top brokers say about the ResMed (ASX:RMD) share price forecast
• These ASX growth shares could be strong buys
• Macquarie warns the next ASX market downturn could come as soon as February

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 recommended Elders Limited and ResMed Inc. 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is home to a large number of high quality companies. This can make it hard to decide which ones to buy ahead of others.

To help narrow things down, I have picked out two ASX 200 shares that brokers rate very highly. Here’s what they are saying about them:

Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)

The first ASX 200 share to look at is Goodman Group. It is a leading integrated commercial and industrial property company with operations across the world.

Goodman currently has $62 billion of total assets under management and over 1,600 customers globally. Among its portfolio are warehouses, data centres, large scale logistics facilities, and business and office parks. These properties are greatly in demand with end users due to being located in key gateway cities around the world. This has led to a sky high occupancy rate and robust earnings growth in recent years.

Morgan Stanley is a fan of Goodman. It was pleased with its strong start to FY 2022 and appears confident its positive form can continue. It has an overweight rating and $26.50 price target on Goodman’s shares.

South32 Ltd (ASX: S32)

Another ASX 200 share to consider is South32. This mining giant produces a wide range of commodities including alumina, aluminium, bauxite, energy and metallurgical coal, manganese, nickel, silver, lead, and zinc. It will also soon add copper to this with the acquisition of an interest in the Sierra Gorda copper mine in Chile.

Thanks to this diversity, and particularly its exposure to aluminium, South32 has been tipped to generate significant free cash flow in the coming years.

It is largely for this reason that Goldman Sachs currently has a conviction buy rating and a $4.40 price target on its shares. But it doesn’t stop there. The broker is also forecasting double-digit dividend yields through to at least FY 2026.

The post Why these ASX 200 shares could be strong buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 2 ASX 200 mining shares named as buys

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.

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There are some leading ASX growth shares that analysts currently rate as a buy.

These ideas are companies that are seeing their operations grow at an impressive double (or even triple) digit rate.

Not every company that’s growing is a worthwhile investment at today’s price, but these companies could be too good to ignore:

Airtasker Ltd (ASX: ART)

Airtasker is an online marketplace business that connects people that want to work with people who need work doing.

The business is currently rated as a buy by Morgans, with a price target of $1.27. That’s almost 30% higher than where it is today.

This ASX growth has a combination of a very high gross profit margin (more than 93% in FY21), rapid growth – revenue increased 38% in FY21 and positive operating cashflow ($5.5 million in FY21). Those three attributes means the business is scaling quickly, very profitably and it’s adding to the company’s cashflow positively.

Airtasker is aiming to scale new Airtasker marketplaces across the world and replicate the growth it has already achieved in Australia. The UK and USA are the next two target markets it’s expanding in.

The company also recently told investors at its AGM that it’s seeing “positive momentum” in its average task value and management expect this to continue into the medium-term and longer-term. Airtasker is also becoming more trusted by Australians – more people are turning to Airtasker for increasingly complex and therefore higher value tasks.

The ASX growth share is investing in marketing, creating new service categories and developing its re-booking model. The re-booking model is showing some “exciting results”.

Internationally, it’s targeting an annualised run rate of gross marketplace volume (GMV) of between $8 million to $10 million.

Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW)

The furniture and homewares ASX growth share is another business that is liked by analysts. Morgan Stanley rates it as a buy, with a price target of $16 – that’s around 50% higher than it is today.

In FY21, Temple & Webster achieved revenue growth of 85% to $326.3 million. The broker thinks that the business may be able to achieve $1 billion of revenue in four to five years thanks to its good and growing market share, as well as the tailwind of the shift to e-commerce by customers.

The ASX growth share is still seeing its revenue increase at a fast rate. For the period from 1 July 2021 to 27 August 2021, revenue had increased by another 49%.

Management said that the business is experiencing several strong tailwinds, including the ongoing adoption of online shopping due to structural and demographic shifts (and an acceleration of this due to COVID-19).

Temple & Webster is planning to drive down its profit margins for the medium-term by investing into growth areas of the business to grow its online market position so that the ASX growth share can become the largest retailer in Australia for furniture and homewares in Australia.

Not only is Temple & Webster growing its headline revenue and customer numbers, but its revenue per active customer is increasing – showing that customers are buying more often and spending more when they do. The revenue per active customer in FY21 rose 12% year on year.

The post 2 ASX growth shares to buy this month: analysts 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 Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Airtasker Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Temple & Webster Group 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 Metal Hawk Ltd (ASX: MHK) share price finished Wednesday higher following the company’s assay results at the Kanowna East project. The site is located about eight kilometres northeast of Northern Star Resources Ltd‘s (ASX: NST) Kanowna Belle gold mine in the West Australian goldfields.

At the closing bell, the mineral exploration company’s shares leapt 6.56% to 32.5 cents. It’s worth noting that despite today’s rise, its shares are still down around 40% in a month.

Gold assays returned from maiden RC program

Investors were buying up the Metal Hawk share price after the company provided a positive release to the ASX today.

According to the update, Metals Hawk advised that its reverse circulation (RC) drilling program has achieved gold assays results.

A number of holes were drilled to test a number of broad gold anomalies discovered at the Little Lake and Western Tiger prospects. The company undertook a recent aircore (AC) drilling program at the sites.

At Little Lake, six RC holes were completed resulting in significant new gold intercepts. This included:

• 4 metres at 17.8 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold (Au) from 75 metres (drill hole KERC012); and
• 1 metre at 2.9 g/t Au from 66 metres (drill hole KERC010).

Furthermore, five RC holes were drilled at the Western Tiger prospect, highlighting the following results:

• 2 metres at 1.45 g/t Au from 73 metres (drill hole KERC003);
• 1 metre at 1.42 g/t Au from 80 metres (drill hole KERC004);
• 5 metres at 1.95 g/t Au from 70 metres (drill hole KERC005); and
• 5 metres at 1.09 g/t Au from 69 metres (drill hole KERC006);

Metal Hawk managing director, Will Belbin commented:

Our first RC drilling program at Kanowna East has further highlighted the potential of this gold project. Following the Company’s nickel sulphide discovery at Berehaven and the successful capital raising in October, the Company is very well positioned to continue delivering exploration success across its highly prospective gold and nickel projects.

Metal Hawk noted that the next stage of RC drilling will follow up the new gold intercepts at the Little Lake and Western Tiger prospects.

Metal Hawk share price summary

Over the past 12 months, the Metal Hawk share price has jumped almost 40%, with year-to-date registering the same gains.

Metal Hawk commands a market capitalisation of about $15.14 million, with approximately 47.32 million shares on its books.

The post Metal Hawk (ASX:MHK) share price rises 6% on high-grade gold results appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Here’s why the Metal Hawk (ASX:MHK) share price crashed 23% today

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras owns shares of Northern Star Resources 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 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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Shares in Advanced Human Imaging Ltd (ASX: AHI) fell directly from the open and have ended the day 18% lower at 98 cents apiece.

Investors sold Advanced Human Imaging following the completion of its US initial public offering (IPO), where it raised capital from the public to fund its expansion plans.

Here are the details.

What did Advanced Human Imaging announce?

Advanced Human Imaging has “patented a proprietary dimensioning technology that enables its users to check, track, and assess their dimensions using only a smartphone both privately and accurately”.

It has recently grown operations, securing contracts in the US earlier this year, amongst other progress. However, don’t forget that companies must put up capital to finance each move up the growth chain.

As such, companies are often faced with a capital budgeting decision in their expansion plans. It is a 3-pronged decision that weighs up using cash from the balance sheet, issuing company bonds/debt, or raising more capital from investors.

Often, public companies will issue new shares on international exchanges to raise more capital from investors. With its success to date, Advanced Human Imaging looked to the US capital markets to do just that.

Today the company announced the closing of its US IPO, where it sold 1,000,000 “units” at a price of US$10.50 per “unit” to fund its growth engine.

Each unit consists of two American Depositary Shares (ADS), plus a single warrant to purchase one ADS. Each ADS represents 7 ordinary shares in Advanced Human Imaging.

The company’s warrants are exercisable immediately, expire three years from the date of issuance and have an exercise price of US$5.52 per ADS.

The ADSs and warrants were issued separately and represented a price of $5.24 per ADS and $0.02 per warrant.

For reference, a warrant is a type of derivative that gives investors the right – but not the obligation – to purchase a company’s shares, at a specific price, on a specific date.

Equity warrants are very similar to option contracts, but they differ in a few ways. For example, when a warrant is exercised, one receives shares from the company itself – not from another investor, unlike with a stock option.

Each of Advanced Human Imaging’s ADSs began trading on the Nasdaq from 19 November under the symbol “AHI”.

Advanced Human Imaging plans to use the net proceeds primarily for research and product development and business development. The leftover funds will be used for general corporate purposes.

What else was announced?

Further to the IPO announcement, the company followed up with a separate announcement on agreements it has with Asia Cornerstone Asset Management (ACAM) and iConcept Global Growth Fund (iCGGF).

The release notes that convertible note subscription agreements with ACAM and iCGGF have been settled by mutual agreement.

The Company has agreed to issue 2,271,834 fully paid ordinary shares in ADSs to ACAM and 738,576 ADS’s to iCGGF as final settlement of all claims under or in connection with the agreements.

Advanced Human Imaging share price snapshot

The Advanced Human Imaging share price has fallen almost 18% into the red from January 1 this year. Yet, despite this, it has climbed around 12% in the past 12 months.

Zooming in and we see that Advanced Human Imaging shares are down 14% in the past month and have slipped over 16% in the past 12 months.

The post What sent the Advanced Human Imaging (ASX:AHI) share price down 18% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s why the Advanced Human Imaging (ASX:AHI) share price is frozen
• Advanced Human Imaging (ASX:AHI) share price sinks on US listing update
• Why Advanced Human Imaging, ResMed, Western Areas, and Westpac are falling

The author Zach Bristow has no positions 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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The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price has been in a horizontal channel of late. This has led investors to believe that the banking giant is now fully valued, trading at the same levels pre-COVID.

At market close on Wednesday, ANZ shares finished up 0.88% at $27.51.

ANZ dethroned as Australia’s fourth largest bank

As the ANZ share price has traversed sideways, Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) shares have picked up steam in 2021.

The market now values ANZ out of the big four, with Macquarie surging past in terms of market capitalisation.

At present, ANZ is valued at approximately $76.87 billion, whilst the global investment bank is worth $77.68 billion. This puts it behind leader Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) with $165.21 billion, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) at $93.21 billion, and Westpac Banking Corp’s (ASX: WBC) $80.01 billion.

The reshuffle could also see Macquarie overtake Westpac, given its market capitalisation is not too far ahead. The third pole position would represent another symbolic change and put the company further in the spotlight.

Notably, Macquarie shares have increased by almost 50% in 2021, zooming past the psychological $200 barrier in late October. On the other hand, ANZ shares have gained a paltry 20% in the same period, recovering from COVID-19 lows.

While Macquarie is a different kettle of fish compared to the other major banks, there is no real direct threat. The company’s primary business is asset management providing investment solutions as opposed to retail banking like its peers.

In addition, Macquarie has been investing heavily in renewable energy as the world moves towards decarbonisation. The global push in targeting net-zero emissions could see the company reap huge rewards for its early-adopter approach.

Nonetheless, ANZ still maintains a dominant position within the retail banking industry servicing millions of customers in Australia and New Zealand.

In its FY21 financial results, the company recorded statutory net profit after tax of $6,162 million. This represented a 72% jump over the prior corresponding period. In contrast, Macquarie achieved $3,015 million for the last financial year.

ANZ share price snapshot

For most of 2021, the ANZ share price has continued to move sideways, registering a 21.45% gain. When factoring in the last 12 months, its shares are actually up less than that, up 20.03%.

On valuation grounds, ANZ presides a market capitalisation of approximately $76.87 billion, with 2.82 billion shares on its books.

The post Own ANZ (ASX:ANZ) shares? Here’s how the bank just got booted out of the big four 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 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 Bruce Jackson.

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Today, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) experienced a fairly mixed performance. At the end of the day, the benchmark index slipped 0.15% lower to 7,399.4 points.

Despite a solid showing by energy shares following further strength in oil prices overnight, the market was unable to creep into positive territory today. Tech shares and industrials were the main laggards on the Aussie market, mirroring the weakness in US tech names last night.

However, the question is: which shares delivered the biggest returns to investors on the ASX today? Here are the ten stocks that rose to the occasion:

Top 10 ASX shares countdown today

Looking at the top 200 listed companies, Lendlease Group (ASX: LLC) was the biggest gainer today. Shares in the international property and infrastructure group gained 3.75% despite there being no new announcements from the company. Find out more about Lendlease Group here.

The next biggest gaining ASX share today was Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT). The oil and gas company rose 3% to $1.29 a share on further strength in oil prices. Uncover the latest Beach Energy details here.

Today’s top 10 biggest gains were made in these ASX shares:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Lendlease Group (ASX: LLC)	$10.93	3.70%
Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT)	$1.285	2.80%
Santos Ltd (ASX: STO)	$6.91	2.52%
Coronado Global Resources Inc (ASX: CRN)	$1.1725	2.40%
Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX: WPL)	$22.96	2.27%
Spark Infrastructure Group (ASX: SKI)	$2.88	2.13%
Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)	$2.55	2.00%
Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX: LNK)	$5.02	1.83%
Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR)	$1.79	1.71%
Reece Ltd (ASX: REH)	$23.37	1.61%

Our top 10 ASX shares today countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary to ensure you know which companies were making big moves on the day. Check-in at Fool.com.au after the market has closed during weekdays to see which stocks make the countdown.

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

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Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler 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 Link Administration Holdings Ltd. 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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The ASX Ltd (ASX: ASX) share price suffered today after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) concluded its investigation into a market outage in November 2020.

An ASIC review into the malfunction has resulted in the watchdog imposing extra conditions on licences held by ASX.

As of Wednesday’s close, the ASX share price is $93.39. That’s 1.45% lower than it was at the end of Tuesday’s session.

Let’s take a look at the news that drove the operator of the Australian stock market’s share price lower today.

A quick refresher

On 16 November 2020, the Australian stock market was closed after a glitch saw the ASX unable to facilitate trades.

It followed a software upgrade to the entity’s trading system.

As a result of the outage, ASIC began an investigation into ASX. The investigation looked into whether ASX had met its obligations under its Australian market licence.

Additionally, IBM Australia undertook an independent expert review into the ASX Trade software update project. 

IBM found ASX met or exceeded industry practices in most capabilities. However, it also found several factors suggesting the platform was not ready to go live.

ASX share price slumps as ASIC imposes new conditions

The ASX share price spent much of today in the red following news the investments watchdog has added clauses to the company’s licence to operate the Australian stock market on the back of last year’s unplanned outage.

The clauses demand the appointment of an expert to assess whether ASX’s assurance program for the CHESS replacement system – due to be launched in April 2023 – is fit for purpose. They will be identifying any shortfalls and reporting to ASIC.

While the program is ongoing, ASX will also have to seek verification from senior executives and its board about technology project readiness.

Finally, ASX will have to resolve issues that led up to the market outage. To do so, it will appoint an independent expert to assess remediations.

ASX managing director and CEO Dominic Stevens commented on the conditions:

We share the determination of our regulators to continue to strengthen market resilience. The new licence conditions are practical and are aligned with the action ASX is taking to improve the way we operate our business…

ASX is a heavily scrutinised organisation with high standards. While no process can eliminate all possibility of technology incidents, our continuous improvement programs have driven the significant reduction in incidents over the last five years.

The ASX board will also create individual executive accountability with links to remuneration consequences. ASIC stated the company’s executives’ interests must be aligned with remedial actions and the avoidance of further outages.

On today’s news, ASIC chair Joe Longo stated:

ASIC’s actions today are all about ensuring the efficient and effective future operation of Australia’s financial markets infrastructure. ASX and market participants must act to ensure that the market can function at all times, so that vital sources of capital are available to the economy.

The post Here’s why the ASX (ASX:ASX) share price struggled on Wednesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts on Wednesday

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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