Marcus Today End of Day Report -Wednesday 18th August

ASX 200 put in a good day to day despite NSW CV19 cases, despite US weakness and BHP falls. The ASX 200 fell 9 points to 7502 (0.1). BHP alone accounted for 33 negative points. It was all about results. In general, they were positive. Brokers pronounced sentence on a few with 'ho humness' following yesterdays drop with BRG continuing lower, MFG also under pressure but DMP delivered up 7.1%, PGH rose 8.3%, PME another doing well up 15.7% and a delisting for RDC saw them soar 18.1%. The banks saved the day with CBA up 0.8% and WBC up 1.4%. MQG joined in the fun, buoyed by the BHP news, the big miner though fell 7.1% as the arbitrageurs were unleashed, and the PLC discount started to close. RIO fell 2.3% in sympathy, it too has a dual listed non fungible structure which may see some call for a change to the structure. Industrials also did well, TLS up 1.0%, WOW up 0.8% and ALL doing ‘nicely nicely’. CSL struggled on traffic and margin issues and some weaker guidance falling 1.5%.