“It is currently too early to determine the financial impact of the Auckland event,” IAG said, conceding it may review its estimate for financial 2023 natural peril costs. IAG said a combination of covers meant the biggest payout it faced would be $236 million.
The St&The P/ASX 200 Index lost 12.1 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 7481.7; the All Ordinaries fell 0.1 per cent to 7700.4.
CBA shares closed at $109.76, down less than 0.1 per cent.
Monday’s record comes ahead of CBA’s interim results due on February 15 when the bank is poised to report a better-than-consensus profit, Macquarie’s banking team said. Beyond results season, the outlook for the big four is more challenging as the benefits of rising interest rates are eroded and impairment charges increase.
CBA was partially floated on September 12, 1991 at $5.40 a share. In 1993, the Commonwealth government sold a further 178 million shares at $9.35 for retail investors, and fully privatized the business in 1996, via a buyback offer.
BHP Group fell 0.6 per cent to $49.23.
Iron ore futures traded at a seven-month high in Singapore, up 1.5 per cent on the March contract to $US128.30 a tonne. In energy, March West Texas Intermediate fell 0.2 per cent to $US79.50 a barrel and Brent crude 0.3 per cent to $US86.37 a barrel.
Woodside Energy lost 0.3 per cent to $36.30.
China’s surprise directive for students enrolled in universities overseas to return to campus as soon as possible, and announced on the Ministry of Education’s website on the weekend, leaves some Chinese students scrambling to get back to Australia for the start of the new academic year in late February
China wants to be seen to be re-engaging with the world, which means government officials, business delegations, tourists and students are traveling again after three years of isolation, The Australian Financial Review‘s North Asia correspondent Michael Smith reported.
Shares of IDP Education jumped 2.9 per cent to $31.37.
Lynas Rare Earths rallied 6.9 per cent to $9.71 despite the fact it conceded to a possible shutdown of some processing operations under conditions imposed by authorities in Malaysia.
The partial closure of some downstream processing operations at Kuantan would represent a worst-case scenario for Lynas. Managing director Amanda Lacaze said the company was making excellent progress on the cracking and leaching plant at Kalgoorlie, but had contingency plans in case the July 1 deadline could not be met.
Lithium and battery metals stocks rallied. Core Lithium jumped 8.9 per cent to $1.23 and Novonix 7.5 per cent to $1.93.
Latitude Group rallied 9.1 per cent to $1.50 after David Jones – under its new private equity owner Anchorage – selected Latitude as its credit card partner, ditching American Express.
The new deal with Latitude comes with a 10-year term. There are about 190,000 active David Jones credit card customers as part of its Amex partnership. Latitude plans to acquire David Jones’ existing cards portfolio subject to further agreement. It will begin issuing two new credit cards to qualifying customers from September.
In the All Ords, Healthia surged 15 per cent to $1.45 after first-half trading and part of January led it to confirm guidance for 2023 underlying EBITDA exceeding $40 million. For the first half, underlying EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $17.7 million to $18.3 million.
The allied health provider is also looking for a new chief financial officer after Chris Banks resigned to join Fitness & Lifestyle Group.
