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    ASX closed lower; Nextdc tumbled on FY21 results; Wesfarmers hit by FY22 sales declines

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    Highlights
    • ASX200 closed 0.04% lower at 7488.30 on Friday.
    • Nextdc plunged more than 5% despite reporting record FY21 results.
    • Wesfarmers hit a slow start to FY22 for Kmart, Target & Bunnings.

    The Australian market closed just 0.04% lower at 7488.30 on Friday as an afternoon rally for industrials stocks offset heavy losses in the tech sector. For the week the key index gained 0.37%.

    Tech stocks were dragged lower today by Appen plunging more than 6%, Nextdc tumbling 5.16% and Megaport shedding just under 4%.

    Bitcoin is trading 0.35% higher over the last 24-hours at US$47,078.91 at 4:45pm AEST.

    Data centre operator Nextdc shares plunged more than 5% today despite the company releasing record FY21 results. For the 12-months, Nextdc reported a 29% increase in EBITDA to 134.5m, a 23% increase in revenue to $246.1m and management expects revenue growth of 16%-20% for FY22. The company also noted record development activity in Victoria.

    Making headlines, Wesfarmers took a hit today after releasing FY21 results that concerned investors today. For the 12-months, Wesfarmers posted a 16.2% increase in net profit after tax to $2.42 billion, and a fully franked dividend of 178 cents/share, up 17.1% YoY. Despite the strong results, Wesfarmers share price dipped today on a slower start to FY22, as the company noted Bunnings? sales to date this financial year have declined 4.7% while Kmart and Target sales combined FY to date are down 14.3%.

    And less than a week after announcing it?ll ban explicit content from October, OnlyFans has backtracked on its decision following strong backlash from users who rely on sharing such content for income.

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