Australia Market Report of July 23: Banks facing Big Profit Drop

Wednesday July 23 12:15 PM Sydney, Australia, July 23, 2008 - (ABN Newswire) - Wall Street closed sharply higher overnight as another drop in oil prices improved investor sentiment. Wall Street staged a late rally after a mixed session, as a drop in oil prices helped to offset disappointing earnings reports from the likes of Apple and American Express. American Express reported second quarter earnings were below estimates and withdrew its full year earnings forecast. Banks have been savaged amid mounting concerns they face earnings falls because of the slowing economy, a drop in lending and rising bad debts. Australian banks so far have avoided the worst of the fallout from the collapse of the US housing market but Citigroup analysts forecast pain is imminent with NAB (ASX: NAB.AX) and ANZ (ASX: ANZ.AX) facing a 12 per cent... [read full story]