Latest news with #Brickworks
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
ASX slips after last tariff update
Australian stocks fell slightly on Monday, following a negative lead in from Wall Street on the back of US President Donald Trump doubling tariffs on steel and aluminium. The benchmark ASX 200 index slid 20.60 points or 0.24 per cent to 8,414.10. The broader All Ordinaries also fell, down 22.80 or 0.26 per cent to 8,637.50. The Australian dollar finished in the green and is now buying 64.68 US cents. On an overall negative day for the market, eight of the 11 sectors dragged the index lower, with telecommunications, industrials and consumer staples being the rare bright spots. All three major iron ore miners slipped, with BHP falling 1.23 per cent to $37.78, Rio Tinto slumping 1.70 per cent to $110.75 and Fortescue Metals retreating 2.53 per cent to $15. It was a mixed day for the big four banks, with CBA rose 0.27 per cent to $176.42 to be the only major bank to trade higher. Shares in Westpac slumped 1.17 per cent to $32.18, while NAB is down 0.68 per cent to $37.74 and ANZ finished in the red down 0.21 per cent to $28.98. Despite the price of crude oil rising, petroleum companies Ampol fell 0.74 per cent to $25.34, Woodside slid 1.12 per cent to $22, and Santos slumped 1.52 per cent to $6.49. During Monday's trading, US futures dived after US President Donald Trump said he would double the tariffs placed on steel and aluminium from Wednesday. IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said the Australian market has performed 'reasonably well' despite a number of negative headlines impacting the ASX 200 including the latest tariff move by President Trump. 'We had a 25 to 50 per cent tariff added to steel and aluminium exports, which obviously was a hit to sentiment,' he said. Mr Sycamore also pointed to President Trump's 'big beautiful bill', which would extend Trump's tax cuts from 2017 at the same time as lifting the debt ceiling, and increasing spending on border security and the military. 'We need to be mindful that revenues need to be raised given the fact Trump's bill is before the senate and he is going to want to pass that, so he will need to show revenue gains and that can only be done through the different avenues to raise tariffs,' he said. He also pointed to military moves both in the Middle East and Ukraine-Russia conflict adding to global uncertainty. In company news, shares in Brickworks and Washington H Soul Patts were the two biggest winners on the ASX. Shares in Soul Patts leapt 16.44 per cent to $43 while Brickworks soared 27.59 per cent to $35.10 after the two businesses announced a $14bn merger. BlueScope Steel also jumped 4.4 per cent to $23.75 on the back of Trump's tariff decision, with the market seeing it as a major winner as it makes half its money from operations within the US. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
Sky News AU
3 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
'Great undersupply' of housing in Brickworks CEO Mark Ellenor's sights after $14b merger with investment firm Soul Patts
The chief executive of Australian brickmaker Brickworks plans to capitalise on the 'great undersupply of housing' facing the country after recently revealing a $14b merger. Brickworks revealed a historic merger with investment firm Soul Patts on Monday, causing the share prices of the companies to rise 27.6 per cent and 16.4 per cent respectively. The merger undoes an arrangement from 1969 where each company owned large portions of one another's stock to defend from takeover bids. Both CEOs appeared on Sky News' Business Now, where Brickworks boss Mark Ellenor said the company was seeing 'some green shoots' in the construction sector and local economy, but noted there was more work needed to ignite growth. 'We've had an easing of inflation, unemployment numbers have moderated and we're seeing some growth,' Mr Ellenor said. 'We're definitely still at the bottom of the cycle.' He said two recent cash rate cuts from the Reserve Bank of Australia since the beginning of this year had led to some increased demand in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, but more populous states were lagging behind. '(In) our two core states of New South Wales and Victoria we've not seen that uplift as yet, but there's just a great undersupply of housing in this country,' Mr Ellenor said. 'We've underbuilt homes for the last four years and Brickworks (is) very well placed to take advantage of the upturn when it does come next year.' Soul Patts CEO Todd Barlow said he was confident about Australia's future, but noted some concerns about strains on the economy. 'We're not seeing any real signs of distress or emerging difficulties, but we're multi-years into a market that has not really generated increasing earnings across the whole market, yet we're seeing higher prices,' Mr Barlow said. 'That concerns us a little bit, but generally I don't see any major issues on the horizon for the economy. "We're hopefully positioning ourselves for some better opportunities ahead.' The Brickworks boss' comments come as dwelling approvals fell 5.7 per cent in April, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The overall decline in April was driven by lower apartment approvals, per the ABS' head of construction statistics Daniel Rossi. 'A drop in apartment approvals drove a 19 per cent fall in private dwellings excluding houses,' Mr Rossi said. 'Meanwhile, private sector house approvals were up 3.1 per cent.' This followed a 14.4 per cent drop in March as apartment approval rates sunk compared to the start of the year. 'In original terms, 5,612 apartments were approved across March and April, compared with 8,625 approved across January and February,' the ABS said. The RBA's second cash rate cut of 2025 is expected to further the turnaround in house price growth after it slowed in 2024. Originally published as 'Great undersupply' of housing in Brickworks CEO Mark Ellenor's sights after $14b merger with investment firm Soul Patts
Business Standard
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Australian markets end modestly lower
Australian markets ended modestly lower, dragged down by banks and energy stocks on renewed Sino-U.S. trade tensions. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.24 percent to 8,414.10 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed 0.26 percent lower at 8,637.50. Shares of Brickworks soared 27.6 percent after an announcement that the building products maker and investment company Washington H Soul Pattinson's will merge to create a new A$14 billion by Capital Market - Live News
Business Recorder
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Banks, energy weigh on Australia shares; Brickworks jumps on buyout deal
Australian shares fell on Monday, dragged by banks and energy stocks, as fresh flare-up in U.S.-China trade relations kept risk sentiment in check, while shares of Brickworks surged 27.6% on a buyout deal. The S&P/ASX 200 index ended 0.2% lower at 8,414.10 points. The benchmark logged monthly gains in April and May and has risen 14.6% since the slump on April 7 triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs. The financial sub-index was among the biggest drags on the day, with three of the 'Big Four' lenders falling while Commonwealth Bank of Australia gained 0.3%. Bank losses were likely driven by a new wave of profit-taking, especially after the sector staged a full recovery from April's selloff to a four-month high, said Hebe Chen, a market analyst at Vantage Markets. Trump on Friday accused China of violating a bilateral deal to roll back tariffs, rekindling concerns over trade tensions between the world's two biggest economies. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday Trump and his counterpart in China, Xi Jinping, will speak soon to discuss trade issues, including a dispute over critical minerals. Focus will now be on the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia's May policy meeting on Tuesday and the country's gross domestic product data on Wednesday. Economists expect an annual growth rate of 1.5%, up from 1.3% previously. The energy sector was the biggest percentage decliner on the benchmark, falling 1.4%. Industry major Woodside Energy and smaller peer Santos shed 1.1% and 1.5%, respectively. Miners fell 1%, tracking weaker iron ore prices from last week. Among individual stocks, Brickworks inked a deal that would allow its major shareholder Washington H Soul Pattinson to buy out the building materials maker, creating a new company worth A$14 billion ($9.04 billion), sending its shares soaring 27.6%. New Zealand markets were closed due to a public holiday.
AU Financial Review
3 days ago
- Business
- AU Financial Review
This is what the Soul Patts deal is really about
There was no shortage of nostalgia floating around Australian capital markets on Monday as Washington H Soul Pattinson announced their $14 billion merger with Brickworks, and the end of the cross-shareholding that has bound the two groups together for more than half a century. But investors are a notoriously unsentimental lot and focus very quickly turned to the big question that surrounds this deal: why now?
