Qantas shares jump after the buyback announcement, earnings report
Shares of Australian airline Qantas jumped as much as 10% after the company reported earnings and announced plans for a share buyback.
The company posted an underlying loss before tax of 1.86 billion Australian dollars ($1.29 billion) for financial year of 2022.
“While the first three quarters of the year were defined by border closures and waves of uncertainty caused by Covid variants, the fourth quarter saw the highest sustained levels of travel demand since the start of the pandemic,” Qantas said in a statement.
It also announced plans to buy back shares worth up to 400 million Australian dollars, according to a filing.
“This is the first return to shareholders since 2019 and follows $1.4 billion of equity raised at the start of the pandemic,” the company said.
— Abigail Ng
CNBC Pro: Why Goldman Sachs thinks this FAANG stock is a sell
FAANG stocks delivered a mixed bag of second-quarter earnings, but Goldman Sachs is keeping its buy calls for nearly the entire grouping.
Just one stock is a sell, according to the bank.
Pro subscribers can read the story here.
— Zavier Ong
HKEX delays morning session due to Typhoon, to resume in afternoon
A restaurant’s windows at The Peak are taped up in Hong Kong on August 24, 2022, as Hong Kong Observatory issued a Typhoon Signal No. 8 earlier in the morning. HKEX canceled its morning session accordingly to the T8 issuance. (Photo by ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP) (Photo by ISAAC LAWRENCE/AFP via Getty Images)
Isaac Lawrence | Afp | Getty Images
Hong Kong delayed its morning session due to the issuance of Typhoon Signal No. 8, the exchange announced on its website. The session’s likely to resume in the afternoon as the signal has now been downgraded to a T3.
“If Typhoon Signal No. 8 or above, or any announcement of Extreme Conditions, remains issued at 9:00 am, the morning trading sessions for all markets will be cancelled,” it says.
The HKEX’s guidance on its website on resuming its session says, “trading will begin on the first half hour approximately two hours after the discontinuation of the Typhoon Signal No. 8 or any Extreme Conditions announcement.”
—Jihye Lee
Bank of Korea raises rates
The Bank of Korea raised the nation’s benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.50%.
The move was in line with a poll by Reuters, where all but one of the 36 economists predicted the raise. One expected a 50 basis point hike.
That follows July’s 50 basis point raise — the biggest increase since the bank adopted the currency policy system in 1999, coming even as it expects gross domestic product growth “below the May forecast of 2.7%.”
The central bank’s Governor Rhee Chang-yong is expected to hold a press conference elaborating on today’s decision later in the morning.
— Jihye Lee
CNBC Pro: Morgan Stanley, UBS prefer these ‘cheap’ stocks, even in a recession
The risk of recession is growing, according to Canaccord Genuity‘s analysts led by Tony Dwyer.
“Our indicators suggest a recession is increasingly likely as we move into next year, especially if the Fed continues to raise rates,” according to an Aug. 22 research note.
But according to Morgan Stanley and UBS, some stocks still look cheap — even with the risk of a slowdown priced in. Here are some of the stocks they prefer.
Pro subscribers can read the story here.
— Zavier Ong
Treasury yields rising on expectations of a hawkish Jackson Hole Fed meeting
Treasury yields are climbing ahead of the Federal Reserve’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo. on the idea that the market view has been more dovish than the central bank.
The three-day event starts Thursday, and the market is most focused on a Friday morning speech from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.
The market has been anticipating a hawkish Fed based on comments ahead of the meeting. For instance, some Fed officials have been pushing back on a market view that the Fed could cut interest rates not long after it finishes raising them next year.
Yields, which move opposite price, have been moving higher on expectations that Powell will emphasize an aggressive policy of battling inflation and holding rates at high levels for longer. The 10-year yield reached 3.11% Wednesday morning, the highest since late June.
“I think what the bond market is looking to try to understand is Powell’s view of this policy reversal in 2023,” said Jim Caron of Morgan Stanley Investment Management.
— Patti Domm
