It was a mixed week for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX:XJO), it finished the week up but it ended with a 5% plunge on Friday.
Over the course of the whole week the ASX 200 grew from 5,242.60 points to 5,245.90 points. I think that shows how strong the rest of the week was that it still managed to finish higher despite the Friday crash. Although next week is pointing to further falls.
The number of people who have (successfully) applied for US unemployment benefits continues to rise.
The ASX continues to follow volatility from overseas.
Here are some of the highlights from the ASX 200 this week:
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) defers the dividend
The major ASX 200 bank released its half-year result this week.
Its continuing cash earnings declined 60% to $1.41 billion. Statutory profit after tax declined 51% to $1.55 billion.
The result was driven by credit impairment charges of $1.67 billion that included increased credit reserves for COVID-19 impacts of $1.031 billion.
The big four ASX bank decided to defer the decision about its interim dividend. It will decide what to do in a few months.
Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) sees a sales surge
The country's biggest supermarket business saw a big increase of sales in the third quarter, particularly in March.
Woolworths said that its total third quarter sales from continuing operations (which excludes the old Petrol division) grew by 10.7% to $16.5 billion. The Australian Food segment saw revenue growth of 11.3% to $11.2 billion. A solid performance from the ASX 200 retailer.
New Zealand Food revenue increased by 14.8% to $1.86 billion. Big W revenue rose by 9.5% to $866 million. Endeavour Drinks also grew revenue by 9.5% to $2.25 billion.
Target on the chopping block?
Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) was another business to provide an update this week. As had been suggested in the media, Bunnings and Officeworks are doing very well with people looking to do DIY projects at home as well as a rise in demand for office products for home working.
Online retailer Catch is also performing very well. However, the in-store sales of Kmart and particularly Target have completely dropped off.
Wesfarmers' leadership team are now looking at all of the options for Target which has been a consistent disappointment over the last few years for the ASX 200 company. There are no plans either way yet.
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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Wesfarmers Limited and Woolworths Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.
