ASX 200 Live Updates – Wednesday, 20th August

Live ASX Coverage – August 20

Anticipate an engaging live coverage of the ASX today as we venture into this new format. We’ll be sharing numerous updates, particularly before the market opens, followed by periodic insights throughout the day. Today’s session will conclude around 2:00 PM AEST. For the latest updates, please refresh the page, and don’t hesitate to share your feedback to enhance our coverage.

Home Depot Q2 Earnings: Mixed Results with Positive Trends

[8:50 AM] Home Depot, an indicator of the U.S. retail landscape, revealed Q2 results that slightly fell short of expectations. Despite this, the company’s stock rose by 3.1% thanks to better-than-anticipated performance in the U.S. market and a notable uptick in sales leading into the September quarter.

Key Points:

• U.S. comparable store sales increased by 1.4% for the quarter, with high-value items rising to 2.6%, up from just 0.3% in the previous quarter.
• Sales comparisons have seen a steady improvement: 0.3% in May, 0.5% in June, and a robust 3.3% in July.
• The CFO emphasised strengths in core product categories while reaffirming the company’s full-year guidance, not factoring in any potential easing from the Federal Reserve.
• Management expressed confidence in their ability to handle increased costs without passing them on to customers, citing a solid customer base.

Treasury Markets in a Holding Pattern

[8:46 AM] The treasury markets remain largely stagnant as they await insights from Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole later this week. However, the current movement in yield curves is noteworthy.

Key Highlights:

• The spread between 2-year and 30-year treasuries is just under 120 basis points, the widest since January 2022, indicating a strong short-end rally against long-end resistance.
• The yield on 2-year treasuries has decreased by 18 basis points in August due to expectations of a Fed rate cut.
• In contrast, the 30-year yield remains above 4.90%, influenced by ongoing structural and supply challenges.
• Notably, the 20-year Japanese Government Bond (JGB) yield is at its highest since 1999, while UK 30-year gilts are nearing their peak since 1998.

S&P 500 Experiences a Decline Amid Positive Market Breadth

[8:43 AM] The S&P 500 fell by 0.59%, and the Nasdaq slid by 1.46%, marking the worst performances since August 1. Despite this, market breadth showed a positive shift, reflecting a transition from technology and growth stocks to more cyclical, value, and rate-sensitive sectors.

Market Performance:

• Significant gains were seen in sectors such as Real Estate (+1.80%), Consumer Staples (+1.00%), Utilities (+0.99%), Healthcare (+0.62%), and Materials (+0.53%).
• In contrast, the technology sector experienced sharp declines, with notable losers including Nvidia (-3.5%), Broadcom (-3.5%), Tesla (-1.7%), and Microsoft (-1.4%).
• The equal-weight S&P 500 index outperformed the standard benchmark by 106 basis points.

Morning Outlook for ASX

[8:31 AM] ASX 200 futures indicate a slight uptick of 20 points (+0.22%) after a mixed overnight trading session. The S&P 500 closed down 0.59%, while the Dow hovered around break-even.

Corporate Earnings on the Horizon:
Today marks a significant day for corporate earnings reporting, including:

Large Capital Companies:

• APA Group (APA)
• Breville Group (BRG)
• Clarity Pharma (CU6)
• Cleanaway Waste Management (CWY)
• Dexus (DXS)
• Hansen Technologies (HSN)
• Iluka Resources (ILU)
• Magellan (MFG)
• Stockland (SGP)
• Superloop (SLC)
• Service Stream (SSM)
• Santos (STO)
• Southern Cross Electrical (SXE)
• Transurban (TCL)
• The Lottery Corp (TLC)
• Vicinity Centres (VCX)

Small to Mid-Cap Companies:

• Alliance Aviation Services (AQZ)
• Arafura Rare Earths (ARU)
• Consol (COS)
• Emeco (EHL)
• EarlyPay (EPY)
• Experience Co (EXP)
• Harmoney (HMY)
• Humm Group (HUM)
• Lynch Group (LGL)
• Lycopodium (LYL)
• MLG (MLG)
• Retail Food Group (RFG)
• Shape Australia (SHA)
• Service Stream (SSM)
• Step One Clothing (STP)
• Southern Cross Electrical (SXE)

For those who are new to our blog, be sure to catch up quickly through today’s Morning Wrap.

Stay tuned for further updates and insights throughout the day!