FINWIRES · TerminalLIVE
FINWIRES

Australian Shares Flat; Collins Foods Reports Nearly 7% Rise in Sales for First 17 Weeks of Fiscal 2027

By

Australian shares were again flat with a negative bias as economic concerns mounted in the wake of renewed Middle East hostilities.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index was little changed to close at 9,066.70.

Brent crude oil futures ​climbed over $91 per barrel after the US and Iran conducted attacks in the Middle East.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones fell 0.7%, the S&P 500 0.3%, and the Nasdaq 0.1%.

On the domestic front, Australia's manufacturing sector maintained modest growth in August, with stronger new orders, business confidence, and employment offset by softer production and renewed supply-chain and cost pressures, according to a survey by S&P Global.

Australia's seasonally adjusted current account deficit widened to AU$27.22 billion in the June quarter from AU$25.45 billion in the previous quarter, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed.

Total dwelling approvals fell 3.6% to 17,687 in July in seasonally adjusted terms after rising 6.9% in June, according to a separate report from the statistics bureau.

In company news, Collins Foods (ASX:CKF) said total company sales in the first 17 weeks of fiscal 2027 were up 6.6% on the prior corresponding period on a constant currency basis, with KFC total sales up 6.4% in Australia, down 2.5% in the Netherlands, and up 44% in Germany.

WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) appointed Jeff Howard as chief financial officer, effective Sept. 28.

CSL (ASX:CSL) entered agreements with the US Administration to lower medicine costs and expand its manufacturing footprint in the US.

What else is happening in Asia?

Asia

Amlogic (Shanghai) Gets China Regulator Nod for Hong Kong Secondary Offering

Amlogic (Shanghai) (SHA:688099) received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission for its secondary share offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, according to a Tuesday filing with the Shanghai bourse.The fabless semiconductor company is approved to issue up to 53.8 million H-shares, according to the filing.

SHA:688099
Asia

MediaTek Secures $3.5 Billion Investment from Nvidia; Shares Jump 10%

Semiconductor giant Nvidia agreed to invest $3.5 billion in Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek (TPE:2454) through the subscription of convertible bonds, according to a Monday statement.MediaTek shares jumped 10% in Tuesday's trade.The move is aimed at deepening a partnership between Nvidia and MediaTek. Under the expanded agreement, MediaTek will adopt Nvidia's NVLink Fusion platform, designed to help hyperscalers, cloud providers, and AI model developers build custom accelerator chips that connect into Nvidia's rack-scale data center systems.The pact also entails enhancing existing collaboration on Nvidia RTX Spark and DGX Spark chips for consumer and enterprise PCs, as well as AI-powered automotive platforms built around MediaTek's Dimensity Auto line.

TPE:2454
Asia

Mapletree Industrial Trust Says No Certainty on US Data Center Asset Divestment

Mapletree Industrial Trust (SGX:ME8U) clarified that there is no certainty that a transaction will materialize following media reports about a potential divestment of its US data center assets.The trust said it regularly reviews its portfolio to optimize asset performance, unlock value and recycle capital.Mapletree Industrial Trust is pursuing selective divestments in North America under its portfolio rejuvenation efforts, and continues to evaluate opportunities aligned with the strategy.Any material developments will be announced on SGXNET, it said.

SGX:ME8U