Australian shares eased by mid-day on Tuesday as investors dumped Breville, Seek, and James Hardie following disappointing results.
The S&P/ASX 200 nudged 0.2 per cent lower with five of the 11 industry groups down. Healthcare was the hardest hit, dragged lower by a drop in CSL even as it reported a 11 per cent increase in first-half net profit to $US2.1 billion.
The biotech giant has now declined more than 8 per cent this week following the abandonment of plans to seek US regulatory approval for a costly injection to treat second heart attacks.
Online job ad site Seek plunged 9 per cent on slumping profit as its customer volumes slipped back to pre-pandemic levels.
Breville plummeted nearly 12 per cent despite a 6.7 per cent gain in profit amid a subdued consumer backdrop.
Seven West Media tumbled 11 per cent after reporting a 53 per cent dive in TV advertising revenue.
James Hardie declined 6.3 per cent after reporting adjusted earnings of $US280.4 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2024, representing a margin of 28.7 per cent.
Macquarie Group fell 1.9 per cent after the bank warned that FY24 profit was "substantially lower" year to date when compared to 2023.
Strike Energy was the biggest laggard, down 26 per cent on news its South Erregulla-3 site in the Perth Basin failed to flow.
The Australian dollar held at US65.29 in thinned trading with markets in most of Asia closed for public holidays. Speaking in Sydney on Tuesday, the Head of the Reserve Bank of Australia's economics unit, Marion Kohler, reiterated that a further slowdown in inflation would depend on a pick-up in productivity.
Bond yields have been moving higher as investors reduced their expectations for rate cuts after policymakers, including Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, indicated they wanted to see further evidence of inflation cooling.
And finally, bitcoin briefly topped $US50,000 for the first time in more than two years overnight in what eToro's Josh Gilbert described as a "remarkable turnaround since the lows in 2022". "The world's largest crypto asset has seen its price triple in that time as the appetite for risk improves alongside the excitement around bitcoin ETFs," Gilbert said.
Stocks on the move
In other corporate news, retirement products provider Challenger leapt 7.6 per cent after reporting a 16 per cent jump in half-year profit before tax of $290 million.
Online-only furniture retailer Temple & Webster climbed 11 per cent after revenue rose 23 per cent, driven by growth in repeat and new customers.
Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT edged up 0.4 per cent after ditching more than $20 million in "competition affected" childcare centre.
HealthCo Healthcare & Wellness REIT rose 1.1 per cent as it reaffirmed funds from operations and distribution guidance of 8 per unit for fiscal 2024.
Reliance Worldwide fell 0.9 per cent on news it had bought family-owned Holman Industries for $160 million.

Sumber : afr.com