Meanwhile, investors sent Woodside shares up 2.8 per cent to $24, after the energy giant reported its statutory net profit for the year rose 115 per cent. However, lower oil and gas prices pushed its underlying net profit for the 12 months to December 31 down 13 per cent.
Nine Entertainment shares rallied 3.7 per cent to $1.69, despite reporting its net profit after tax fell 25 per cent to $112.2 million, weighed down by weaker advertising conditions and a loss of revenue from Meta.
Buy now, pay later provider Zip surged 13.9 per cent to $2.71 after posting a 117 per cent jump in its full-year earnings to $67 million.
The laggards
The slump in mining shares continued, down 0.9 per cent for the sector. BHP, the sharemarket’s second-biggest company, was down 1.2 per cent to $40.30 while Fortescue (down 2.8 per cent) and Rio Tinto (down 0.6 per cent) similarly slipped due to weak iron ore prices.
All big four banks traded in the red, with CBA (down 1.3 per cent to $154.30) and NAB (down 1.4 per cent to $35.40) slipping. ANZ shares also dropped to $29.30, down 0.7 per cent, while Westpac treaded water, down 0.1 per cent to $31.30. It follows a pullback in bank shares after the release of earnings results last week that triggered a share price wobble across the sector.
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Other sectors of the sharemarket similarly see-sawed as traders digested a slew of half-year results across the local bourse. Consumer discretionary was the worst-performing sector, dropping 2.7 per cent, dragged down by retail conglomerate Wesfarmers slipping 2.2 per cent to $74.3.
Domino’s Pizza stock also plunged 10.5 per cent to $28.90 after it posted a loss of $22.2 million for the first half of the financial year following heavy restructuring costs associated with the closure of 205 underperforming stores, mostly in Japan. Guzman Y Gomez also slipped 2.6 per cent to 90¢.
WiseTech shares were down 2 per cent, leading tech stocks lower, after tumbling 20.1 per cent in the previous trading session. It comes following the embattled software giant’s announcement on Monday that four independent board members were leaving after failing to agree with disgraced company founder Richard White about his role.
The lowdown
“The local earnings season delivered more high-profile disappointments,” IG Australia market analyst Tony Sycamore said.
“Today’s weakness follows a jittery session on Wall Street as big tech stocks faltered ahead of Nvidia’s anticipated earnings report on Thursday morning,” he said.
In the US, stocks drifted lower on Monday to compound their sharp losses from last week. The S&P 500 dipped 0.5 per cent after flipping between small gains and losses several times through the day. The relatively modest moves followed its 1.7 per cent tumble on Friday, which came after several weaker-than-expected reports on the US economy.
Wall Street slumped at the open but pared some of its losses after it was announced Trump had paused his tariffs on Mexican imports.Credit: Bloomberg
All told, the S&P 500 fell 29.88 points to 5983.25. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 33.19 to 43,461.21, and the Nasdaq composite fell 237.08 to 19,286.92.
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Big US companies have broadly been reporting better profits for the last three months of 2024 than analysts expected, which is one of the main reasons the S&P 500 set a record before sliding at the end of last week.
Chief among them is Nvidia, the company that’s become one of Wall Street’s most influential stocks because of what had been nearly insatiable demand for its chips. Wednesday will be the company’s first profit report since a Chinese upstart, DeepSeek, upended the artificial intelligence industry by saying it developed a large language model that can compete with big US rivals without using the top-flight, most expensive chips.
That called into question all the spending Wall Street had assumed would go into not only Nvidia’s chips but also the ecosystem that’s built around the AI boom, including electricity to power large data centres.
Nvidia’s stock bounced between gains and losses through Monday, helping pull the S&P 500 and other indexes up and down in its wake. It ended up falling 3.1 per cent and was the heaviest single weight on the S&P 500.
Tweet of the day
Quote of the day
“Thank you, Uncle Sam. Someday, your nieces and nephews at Berkshire hope to send you even larger payments than we did in 2024. Spend it wisely. Take care of the many who, for no fault of their own, get the short straws in life. They deserve better. And never forget that we need you to maintain a stable currency, and that result requires both wisdom and vigilance on your part.”
That’s Warren Buffett, the ninth-richest person in the world, urging the US government to be responsible with the money he sends it, in his annual letter to conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway’s shareholders. Read the piece here.
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Nine Entertainment has posted a strong jump in its subscription businesses – including streaming service Stan and this masthead – in the first half of fiscal 2025, with ad spend showing signs of growth at the Nine Network this year.
For the half year ending December 31, Nine reported that revenue edged higher to $1.39 billion, but net profit dropped 25 per cent to $112.2 million after the loss of Meta revenue and the impact of weaker economic and advertising market conditions.
With AP, AAP
