Welcome to Tuesday. Here are the five things I'm looking at today on the Australian sharemarket.
- The S&P/ ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has posted a decent start to the day, up 0.4% to 5,609.5, following the lead set on Wall Street overnight. The Dow Jones gained 1.1%, while the broader S&P 500 added 0.9%. The tech heavy NASDAQ saw gains of 1%. More gains could be ahead, as global tensions over Ukraine subside, and confidence in the recovering US housing industry climbed to the highest level in seven months. Add in all-time low interest rates for longer, and shares look very attractive.
- QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE) has posted an 18% drop in profit to US$392 million for the six months to June 2014, and has been forced to raise US$750 million in new equity to shore up its balance sheet. The troubled insurer has also flagged a partial float of its lenders mortgage insurance business – perhaps hoping to capitlaise on the successful listing of competitor Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia Ltd (ASX: GMA) earlier this year.
Motley Fool's Tom Richardson covered QBE's results in more detail earlier today. - Insurance Australia Group Limited (ASX: IAG) shares are up 1%, after the insurer reported a net profit of $1.2 billion for the 2014 financial year, up 59% over the previous year. The company is forecasting a 17% to 20% rise in gross written premium in 2015, largely thanks to consolidation of the Wesfarmer's insurance underwriting business. For those investors who love their dividends, IAG has increased its dividend by 8.3% to 39 cents for the year – a fully franked yield of more than 6%.
- Tweet of the day
CBA rewards bosses of scandal-ridden financial planning division https://t.co/VFDy0AAbQ8 via @smh
Adele Ferguson (@adele_ferguson) August 18, 2014
Seems like the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) is still thumbing its nose at victims of its financial planning scandal. - Stock of the day is brought to you by Andrew Mudie – CSL Limited (ASX: CSL). While Andrew doesn't own the stock, I do, and believe a $100 share price is a strong possibility.
