US energy stocks supported by increased dividend yields
US equities ended higher in uneventful Wednesday trading as investors are awaiting the three-day Jackson Hole economic symposium that starts Thursday, US time, to interpret what Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell might say about the central bank’s next steps on interest rates.
While the speech will matter, stock-market investors will also need to pay attention to weaker US economic data this week , including falling home prices and slumping sales that point to a sputtering housing market.
Key economic reports through the remainder of the week include jobless claims on Thursday and the personal consumption expenditures price index on Friday.
Overnight the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.18 per cent, the S&P 500 climbed 0.29 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.41 per cent
Best performing industries included coal, silver, agriculture, internet services, oil and gas.
Energy, real estate and financials were the best-performing sectors in the S&P 500.
Energy companies now dominate the top-yielding stocks in the S&P 500 index as more oil and gas producers adopt variable dividend payout policies. The variable dividends are an acknowledgment that energy companies are earning outsize profits from high energy prices.
In this age of environmental, social and governance or ESG based investing, energy companies like coal and gas are having to launch capital management initiatives to attract new shareholders. In the US state of Maine last year they passed a law to divest the 200 largest publicly traded fossil fuel companies from its pension funds by 2026, citing environmental risks on potential investment performance.
But it seems that ESG principles are divided along republican and democratic political divides for state pension funds : In the past year, more than a dozen have introduced new initiatives, either to divest state pension funds from gun and ammunition companies, or oil and gas companies and coal companies.
Bizarley Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida – a potential US presidential candidate – yesterday advanced his campaign against environmental, social and governance investing. The State Board of Administration, on which he sits, adopted his proposal to ban the consideration of “social, political or ideological interests” when making investment decisions for the state’s pension fund.
The resolution imposes broad limits on the pension fund’s investments.State administrators will be instructed to prioritize “the highest return on investment for beneficiaries, without consideration for non-economic beliefs or political factors."
Currencies
One Australian dollar has weakened by of a cent compared to the US dollar yesterday, buying 69.09 US cents (Wed: 69.30 US cents), 58.60 Pence Sterling, 94.74 Yen and 69.35 Euro cents.
Commodities
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 1 per cent gain.
Gold added $0.30 or 0.02 per cent to US$1761.50 an ounce.
Silver was down $0.15 or 0.8 per cent to US$18.97 an ounce.
Copper lost $4.35 or 1.2 per cent to US$364.80 a pound.
Oil was choppy today alongside shifting Iran-deal headlines, adding 1.2 per cent
Futures
The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.5 per cent gain.
Ex-dividends
There are fourteen companies set to trade without the right to a dividend.
AngloGold Ashanti (ASX:AGG) is paying 6.8174 cents unfranked
Baby Bunting Group (ASX:BBN) is paying 9 cents fully franked
Bell Financial Group (ASX:BFG) is paying 2.5 cents fully franked
Codan (ASX:CDA) is paying 15 cents fully franked
Deterra Royalties (ASX:DRR) is paying 22.08 cents fully franked
Heartland Group (ASX:HGH) is paying 4.9447 cents unfranked
HT&E (ASX:HT1) is paying 5 cents fully franked
JB Hi-Fi (ASX:JBH) is paying 153 cents fully franked
Mayfield Childcare (ASX:MFD) is paying 2.76 cents fully franked
Platinum Asia Investments (ASX:PAI) is paying 2.5 cents fully franked
Platinum Capital (ASX:PMC) is paying 3 cents fully franked
REA Group (ASX:REA) is paying 89 cents fully franked
Reckon (ASX:RKN) is paying 3 cents fully franked
VGI Partners Global (ASX:VG1) is paying 4.5 cents 73.33 per cent franked
Dividends payable
There is one company set to pay eligible shareholders today.
AMCIL (ASX:AMH)
Aspen Group (ASX:APZ)
Goodman Group (ASX:GMG)
Figures around the globe
Across the Atlantic, European markets closed mixed. Paris added 0.4 per cent, Frankfurt rose 0.2 per cent and London’s FTSE closed 0.2 per cent lower.
Asian markets closed lower. Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.2 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite closed 1.9 per cent lower.
Yesterday, the Australian sharemarket added 0.5 per cent to 6998.
Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.
Copyright 2022 – Finance News Network
Source: Finance News Network
