ASX 200 afternoon report: 23rd of February 2023

The ASX 200 trades 27.50 points lower (-0.37%) at 7287 at 3.15 pm.

The ASX 200 has fallen for a third straight session, taking its lead from Wall Street after the minutes from the last FOMC meeting failed to detail the criteria for a Fed pause and noted that a “few” members called for a 50 bp rate rise to slow inflation.

Another round of disappointing earnings reports also buffeted the local market. Fund manager Platinum became the latest high-profile stock to feel the wrath of shareholders as it fell 16.3% to $1.90 following its earnings report that showed a 37.4% fall in profits on top of investor outflows.

The share price of Qantas fell 7% to $6.02, despite reporting a record first-half-year profit of $1.4 billion. Higher than expected capex and an expectation that airfares will fall during the second half of the year suggest the tailwinds of the Covid re-opening will soon become headwinds for the flying Kangaroo.

Mining sector

The big miners found themselves in the firing line again today after Rio Tinto's earning report released after the market closed showed its underlying profit fell by 38% to $ 13.28 billion, missing expectations of $13.96 billion.

• Rio Tinto fell 2.3% to $122.59
• BHP fell 3.58% to $46.61
• South32 fell 1.53% to $4.52
• Mineral Resources added 2.1% to $86.58 as it expanded its investment in a lithium hydroxide plant in China.

Financial sector

The share price of the big banks remains under pressure following their updates last week.

• NAB fell 0.7% to $29.85
• Macquarie lost 0.7% to $188.98
• Westpac fell by 0.7% to $22.72
• ANZ fell 0.56% to $24.79.

Health Care sector

In an otherwise dreary day, the defensive Health Care sector has been a shining light led by Telix Pharmaceuticals which added 4% to $6.54.

• Sonic Healthcare added 1.7% to $33.25
• Ramsay Health Care added 3.5% to $68.20 after its first-half profits rose by 22%.

Consumer-facing stocks

Star Entertainment confirmed speculation that it needed capital after it announced an $800m capital raising at $1.20 per share.

• Bega Cheese which fell 8.2% to $3.29
• ZIP fell 7% to $0.53c
• Blackmores fell 6.5% to $79.19 as it provided guidance but lifted its dividend by 38% to $0.87c
• Domino's Pizza climbed 1.7% to $55.33 as bargain hunters took advantage of its 23% fall yesterday.

ASX 200 technical analysis

Technically the pullback in the ASX 200 from the February 6th 7567 high is nearing the 7200/7000 support band (coming from the uptrend support from the October 6411 low and the 200-day moving average) we have been targeting since late January.

ASX 200 daily chart