ASX flat on mixed earnings results for a muted February 22, 2024 trading day

Positive US futures were not enough to lift the Australian sharemarket on Thursday as a mixed corporate earnings season depressed movement on the ASX.

The benchmark ASX 200 ended the day flat, up just 2.8 points or 0.04 per cent to close at 7611.20 points and the broader All Ordinaries rose 5.3 points, or 0.07 per cent, to close at 7865.3 points.

The lacklustre trading day contrasts with a stunning earnings beat at American chip giant Nvidia that looks set to push Wall St higher later on Thursday.

Senior financial market analyst at Capital.com Kyle Rodda said corporate Australia’s “mixed bag” of earnings had prevented the market from matching the sparks rippling through Wall St.

“It’s really another case that we’re sort of lagging behind our international peers again,” he said.

“We’re not seeing a broadbased narrative of strong earnings across the ASX and when you contrast that with what’s happening on Wall St, both from a thematic point of view but also from an earnings perspective, which has been a little bit better than expected, we’re not really participating in that kind of run higher.”

Seven sectors ended in the green, with utilities leading with a 2.01 per cent gain.

Energy, IT, industrials, health care, materials and staples also ended in positive territory, while real estate, financials, telecommunications and discretionary fell through the day.

Mining behemoths Rio Tinto and BHP both ended down, 1.14 per cent and 0.38 per cent, respectively, as iron ore prices pull back.

Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Westpac and NAB all dipped into the red reflecting a broader weakness in financials.

Qantas fell 6.8 per cent after the company reported a half-year dip in profits to $869m.

Supermarket giant Woolworths continued its bad run, tracking down a further 1.79 per cent after Wednesday’s 6.6 per cent drop.

Top gainers include Bega Cheese and retail business Lovisa Holdings, which boomed 12.96 per cent and 10.39 per cent, respectively.

The Aussie dollar rose 0.16 per cent against the Greenback to sit at $0.65.

It’s flat against the euro, sitting at 0.60, and flat against the British pound at 0.51.