Reporting season live updates: Everything you need to know about companies revealing results to the ASX today

Bitcoin fluctuated after posting its fourth consecutive weekly loss, with the cryptocurrency struggling to find clear direction as a weekend rally fizzled.

The largest digital token ended Sunday down 2.6 per cent for the week, erasing a small bounce that briefly took it close to $US71,000 on Saturday. Bitcoin dipped a further 2.1 per cent to $US67,360 on Monday, while Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, slid to $US1948.

Bitcoin has dropped more than 40 per cent from its all-time peak near $US127,000 in October, struggling to latch onto rallies in gold or equities. The broader crypto market has lost almost $US2 trillion in value over the same period, according to data from CoinGecko.

The token’s recent weakness has led some analysts to question whether prices have found a floor.

“The big question on everyone’s mind is whether crypto has bottomed out or if there’s still more downside on the horizon,” Greg Magadini, director of derivatives at Amberdata, wrote in a note.

Sentiment around digital-asset treasury holdings and money flowing into or out of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds will be key indicators to watch, he said.

Bloomberg

Electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi is still basking in the glow of $6.1 billion in sales revealed as part of its half-year results yesterday.

It is the best-performing stock on the S&P/ASX200 so far today, up 8.5 per cent at 11am AWST to $7.03.

Pro Medicus was a close second, up 7 per cent to $125.17.

Temple & Webster (up 6.4 per cent to $8.13) BHP (up 6 per cent to $53.39) and Pexa Group (up 5.7 per cent to $14.66) rounded out the top five.

It was a different story for Reliiance, which tumbled 8 per cent to $3.54 and Lynas Rare Earths, which shed 5.3 per cent to $15.08.

Treasury Wines Estates (down 5.2 per cent to $4.71), Sims (down 4.7 per cent to $20.27) and Reece (down 4.2 per cent to $13.94) were also among the worst-performing stocks.

Only four of the market’s 11 sectors had managed to gain ground. Real estate and tech stocks were deep in the red.

Woodside Energy has today laid out details of its remaining proved and probable oil and gas reserves.

The Perth-based energy giant said at the end of last year it had remaining proved reserves of 1882.1 million barrels of oil equivalent, remaining proved plus probable reserves of 2999.5mmboe, and remaining 2C contingent resources of 5795.7mmboe.

Excluding divestments and production, proved reserves increased by 134.1mmboe while proved plus probable reserves increased by 141mmboe.

Woodside acting CEO Liz Westcott said the reserves update demonstrated the quality of the portfolio and ongoing efforts to maximise the value of the existing assets.

“Our 2025 reserves statement demonstrates the strength and resilience of our portfolio,” she said.

“The additions to proved and probable reserves reflect disciplined investment decisions and technical excellence across our global operations.

“These results combined with our final investment decision on Louisiana LNG underpin our ability to deliver sustained cash flow and long-term value for shareholders while progressing projects that meet growing energy demand.”

Shares in Woodside were little changed at 10.45am AWST at $25.77.

The Reserve Bank has hinted at another rate rise this year because it is worried inflation will remain high until the middle of 2027, the minutes of its last meeting have revealed.

By a unanimous decision, the RBA on February 3 raised official interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.85 per cent, which marked the first increase since November 2023.

It also reversed the effects of the Reserve Bank’s August rate cut after inflation soared to 3.8 per cent at the end of last year, or an annual pace well above the RBA’s 2 to 3 per cent target.

“Members noted that measures of longer-term inflation expectations appeared well anchored and consistent with central banks’ inflation targets. However, measures of inflation expectations at the two-year horizon had increased, most noticeably in Australia,” Tuesday’s meeting minutes said.

Updated RBA forecasts, released early this month, showed headline and underlying inflation remaining above target until June 2027 and not returning to the mid-point of that band until late 2028.

Read the full story here

Australia’s share market is pushing higher as BHP shares rocketed to record highs after beating interim earnings expectations and delivering a chunky dividend.

The S&P/ASX200 rose 47.3 points, up 0.5 per cent, to 8984.4, ahead of lunch on Tuesday as the broader All Ordinaries gained 38.8 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 9202.6.

A bank holiday for US markets meant some liquidity would likely find its way to equities in the Asia Pacific region, Moomoo market strategist Michael McCarthy said.

Read the full morning wrap here

Shares in Kalgoorlie-based contractor MLG Oz are on the rise after posting a 73.2 per cent lift in net profit.

The company’s statutory profit for the half-year to December landed at $ 7.1 million, driven in part by works generated from a roaring gold sector and a more stable performance across its haulage and site services projects.

“Haulage and site services continued to benefit from sustained demand from gold sector clients, increased volumes and stable pricing outcomes under existing contracts,” the company told investors on Tuesday.

Revenue rose 5.2 per cent to $287.2m on the prior corresponding period, but was constrained in the first quarter by heavy rainfall events particularly during July and August.

Shares in MLG were up 4.7 per cent to $1.05.

Gold was little changed, with many traders in Asia offline for the Lunar New Year and the US closed on Monday.

Bullion was slightly below $US5,000 an ounce, after falling one per cen in the previous session due largely to profit-taking. The metal had rallied briefly on Friday when modest US inflation data boosted the case for the Federal Reserve to trim interest rates. Lower borrowing costs are a tailwind for non-yielding precious metals.

“We continue to see two main supportive macro factors for gold: inflation and dollar debasement,” analysts at Jefferies including Fahad Tariq wrote in a note.

Investors and central banks concerned about these factors “have only really one option: hard assets”, they said, raising their 2026 gold price forecast to $US5000 an ounce from $US4200.

Spot gold was little changed at $US4,991.46/oz this morning.

Silver slipped 0.2 per cent to $US76.46/oz.

Austal’s US boss is leaving the shipbuilder, just days after the disclosure of an accounting blunder that torpedoed its annual profit guidance.

The company said on Tuesday Austal USA’s president of less than two years, Michelle Kruger, was stepping back from leadership of its flagship business ahead of retiring on June 1.

Ms Kruger’s sudden exit follows last week’s disclosure that Austal’s profit guidance for the 2026 calendar year had been slashed by 18 per cent to $110 million after the discovery of an accounting gaffe in the US that had overstated its numbers.

Read the full story here

Copper has help to turn around an earnings slump for BHP, says Zavier Wong, market analyst at eToro, but headwinds remain for its powerhouse iron ore operations.

Mr Wong said the Big Australian’s first-half result was a clear improvement on the earnings downturn of the previous financial year, with a high interim dividend showing that “BHP is sending a clear message that the cash flow pressure has eased”.

“The turnaround has been largely driven by copper,” he said.

“Prices surged 32 per cent year-on-year, production guidance has been upgraded, and Escondida is delivering record throughput. BHP’s pivot towards copper continues to gather pace.

“Iron ore remains the cash engine, but the headwinds haven’t gone away. Chinese steel production has held around 1 billion tonnes for seven straight years, but that resilience is being propped up by strong exports and manufacturing rather than the property sector that traditionally drove demand.

“The question is how long that can last”

Miner Vicuna Corporation - controlled by Australia’s BHP and Canada’s Lundin Mining - has announced a $US18 billion ($25b) multi-year investment plan to develop copper, gold and silver mining projects in northern Argentina.

The initial investment in its Josemaria and Filo del Sol projects in the province of San Juan will be $US7b with capital deployment scheduled from 2027 until production begins in 2030, Vicuna said.

The project is forecast to average 395,000 tonnes of copper, 711,000 ounces of gold, and 22.2 million ounces of silver annually over its first 25 years.

Output during the first decade is projected at about 2.5mt of copper, 5.5moz of gold, and 214moz s of silver.

Development of the Josemaria and Filo del Sol mining projects will be carried out in three stages.

The first stage will be focused on the Josemaria deposit, with the latter two focused on Filo del Sol.