Global markets were once again higher overnight, as major Wall Street indices hit new record levels with Boeing rising and bank stocks gaining ahead of a near certain move by the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. The Fed will make its announcement tomorrow morning AU/NZ time.
Closer to home, activity yesterday was dominated by deal news, including ANZ, and the announcement that Westfield will be sold in a giant $32bn deal, making it Australia’s biggest takeover.
Stock in Focus: ANZ Bank (ANZ:NZ / ANZ:AX)
ANZ shares rose 1.1% yesterday with the banking group announcing that it will sell its life insurance business to the Australian arm of Switzerland's Zurich for $2.85 billion.
The move continues the recent trend of ANZ as it shifts its focus back to core banking operations. As discussed in the past, we welcome ANZ’s restructure which aims to reduce both operating costs and risks by removing complexity and exiting low return non-core businesses.&...
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