ASX down for third straight day, CSL marks eight losing days, Westpac buoys banks on strong result

The local market finished a third straight day lower, with the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) dropping 0.3 per cent ahead of an important GDP result. Financials and healthcare were the standouts, both up 0.4 per cent, while retailers were down 1.9 per cent and staples 1.7 per cent as both Woolworths Group Limited (ASX: WOW) and Wesfarmers Limited (ASX: WES) dropped close to 3 per cent after going ex-dividend. The financial sector was buoyed by Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX: WBC) which reported a 15 per cent jump in business lending as the group seeks to compete with the likes of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA). The company plans to add 350 more business bankers, while the core deposit base grew 5 per cent to 151 billion dollars. CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) dropped again, albeit less than 1 per cent, as the company faced an eighth straight day of losses following a weaker than expected profit result. All eyes are on tomorrow’s GDP result, expected to show an anaemic Australian economy growing at 1.6 per cent, with hopes that this will support further rate cuts.

PolyNovo jumps on Medicare opportunity, NRW bounces on acquisition, KFC sales buoy Collins Foods

Shares in biotechnology group PolyNovo Limited (ASX: PNV) surged more than 10 per cent after the company confirmed it expected to benefit significantly from changes to Medicare funding in the US, which would reimburse outpatient wound care — a key plank of its product offering. Mining contractor NRW Holdings Limited (ASX: NWH)jumped more than 6 per cent after leaving a trading halt and announcing the acquisition of 100 per cent of mining and construction group Fredon for 200 million dollars in cash. Fried chicken demand buoyed Collins Foods Limited (ASX: CKF), with the KFC operator reporting 5.8 per cent growth in same-store sales in the first 18 weeks of the financial year, supported by expansion into Europe. Guidance of low to mid-teens profit growth for FY26 was also confirmed. Meanwhile, Platinum Asset Management Limited (ASX: PTM) fell further as a major investor flagged a redemption of more than 500 million dollars — just under 10 per cent of assets under management — only weeks before its planned merger with L1 Capital.

US markets begin September on negative tone, NVIDIA slump continues on bond yields, TSMC export revoked

The US market began September on a negative tone, with all three benchmarks losing more than 0.6 per cent on Tuesday, led by the NASDAQ Composite Index (NASDAQ: IXIC), which finished 0.8 per cent lower. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) continued its longest slump in some time, falling another 2 per cent as US bond yields reached 5 per cent amid concerns that valuations — at 22 times future earnings — are the highest since the Dot Com bubble. Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) outperformed after a federal judge confirmed the company would not need to sell its Chrome browser to meet competition concerns. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE: TSM)confirmed the government had revoked authorisation to ship essential chips to its Chinese base, escalating the trade war. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) fell another 1 per cent as its India entry disappointed and Chinese deliveries slowed.