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S&P/ASX 200 gains 0.32% as new COVID-19 cases decline in Victoria

Published: 12:55 18 Aug 2020 AEST

Alto Metals Ltd - S&P/ASX 200 gains 0.32% as new COVID-19 cases decline in Victoria

S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) has gained 0.32% to 6,096 by 12.51 pm as Victoria confirmed another decline in the number of new COVID-19 cases, from 282 yesterday to 222 today.

A number of firms are near all-time highs including Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX:WES) which touched a record peak of $48.05 and Mesoblast which surged to $5.37.

Netwealth (ASX:NWL) was at an all-time high of $14.6 earlier today after the financial services firm grew its profit to $43.7 million for the year, up from $34.3 million in FY19.

Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX:TWE) shares dropped 14% after reports of an investigation into wine dumping in China.

Coles and BHP results

Supermarket giant Coles Group Ltd (ASX:COL) revealed a net profit of $978 million over the past 12 months, down from $1.4 billion this time last year.

While overall sales have increased, sales revenue decreased from $38.2 billion to $37.4 billion this time around.

BHP Group Ltd’s (ASX:BHP) annual profit dipped 4.3%, as disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic overshadowed firm iron ore prices and signs of a rebound in demand from top consumer China.

Underlying profit attributable from continuing operations for the year ended June 30 2020 fell to $9.06 billion from $9.47 billion a year earlier, missing estimates of $9.42 billion.

BHP noted that "'There remains a range of risks to prices for our various commodities. The potential for re-emergence of COVID-19 outbreaks in key markets or supply jurisdictions is the main source of uncertainty in our year-ahead outlook."

Top gainers

Today’s top gainers on the ASX include Titanium Sands Ltd (ASX:TSL) (+9.09%), Oakdale Resources Ltd (ASX:OAR) (+20.00%), Tempus Resources Ltd (ASX:TMR) (+7.69%), Walkabout Resources Ltd (ASX:WKT) (+8.33%) and Latin Resources Ltd (ASX:LRS) (8.33%).

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