Between the Bells

The Australian share market looks set for a cautious opening if you go by the futures, with investors weighing up three key things:

1. The Global equity rallying overnight
2. The oil price swinging 25% lower to $12.93 on fears that worldwide storage will soon be at capacity
3. Local earnings results due out today from Aussie companies

Looking at overnight markets, Wall Street charged ahead with their benchmark indices all gaining over 1%, on hopes of further lockdowns being lifted, while earnings news from Deutsche Bank and pharmaceutical Bayer helped fuel European equities higher and saw the German market gain over 3.1%.

Today, investors will be watching St Barbara (ASX:SBM), Saracen (ASX:SAR), Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST), Growthpoint Properties Australia (ASX:GOZ) and Mesoblast (ASX:MSB).

Aussie investors will be sifting through mixed results from global markets on Friday. They will also be turning their attention to local financial results due out this week, including NAB (ASX:NAB) which reported today, ANZ (ASX:ANZ) on Thursday with Coles (ASX:COL), Woolworths (ASX:WOW) and Qantas (ASX:QAN) set to announce quarterly updates this week. 

The ASX200 eyed a 1.6% gain at the open going by the futures, this was helped by a lift in the oil price as well as Tech, Mining and Healthcare stocks on Wall Street.

It will be a busy week on Wall Street with Google parent Alphabet reporting quarterly numbers, along with Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Facebook. 

Today investors will be watching NAB (ASX:NAB) and MyState (ASX:MYS).

Though it's been a negative week for the Aussie share market, light seems to be at the end of the tunnel for some stocks. With the volatility index falling from its 9-year high to a 7-week low, the market is seemingly more tame. However with immediate threats subsiding, the question of when the consequences of COVID-19 will be fully realised is now on the table.

In this week’s wrap, Jessica covers: 
- The sector report: defensive sectors hold fast (0:43)
- The stock report: as gold spikes, Regis Resources (ASX:RRL) sees an upturn (1:13)
- Gold shines on ETF leaderboard (3:49)
- Are we truly headed for the deepest recession in modern history? (5:26)
- Stock idea: a2 Milk (ASX:A2M) posts positive 3rd quarter results (5:52)

The Aussie share market is eyeing a gain of 0.2% going by the futures, which will be welcomed given the market has lost about 5% this week.

Sobering weekly unemployment data came out of the US last night, with total number of jobless claims over the past 5-weeks to 26 million which is 16% of the labor force.

Today, all eyes will be on: MyState (ASX:MYS), Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (ASX:API), Speedcast (ASX:SDA) and Air New Zealand (ASX:AIZ).

This evening, investors will be watching: in the U.S, new home sales and manufacturing and service data, while in the UK, March retail numbers.

Markets breathed a sigh of relief last night and clawed back some recent losses after the US President Donald Trump fired off a tweet that fueled the oil price to move higher. 

Markets: The Nasdaq rose 2.8%, the Dow gained 2%. London’s FTSE had the most fire in Europe, rising 2.3%. 

Commodities: Crude oil rised 22%, clawing back recent losses, settling at $14.23 while brent oil pumped up 20%. The gold price gained a bit of shine, rising to $1,736.90. 

What to watch today: Oil and mining companies on the ASX after their US and European counterparts rose 3%, a2milk (ASX:A2M) after Citi upgraded its price target after a2milk rose its earnings forecasts, Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN) after it reported no material impact from COVID-19 and maintained guidance, and AMP (ASX:AMP) after it reported a mixed third quarter with loans rises while assets under management fell. Also watch US futures this afternoon as traders weigh up what to expect.

The Australian share market put the brakes on for the 3rd day, as US equities felt weak at the knees for their 2nd session. This follows oil price’s massive decline amid oversupply and crippled demand due to COVID-19 lockdowns.

Today, the oil price clawed back overnight and the Aussie share market is up 13% from its March lows meaning we are no longer in a bull market.  

Companies on the ASX leaderboard: WiseTech (ASX:WTC), Pinnacle Investment Management Group (ASX:PNI) and Spark Infrastructure (ASX:SPK).

Stocks seeing the most selling: NRW Holdings (ASX:NWH), oOh!Media (ASX:OML) and Stockland (ASX:SGP).Investors are watching GPT Group (ASX:GPT) and Caltex (ASX:CTX).

The Australian share market is on for a cautious day of trade given the topsy-turvy evening and morning we had.

The Australian share market opened 0.6% lower then clawed back some of those losses and is tracking 0.2% lower with Healthcare, Utilities, Banks and Energy rising. 

Overnight, the crude oil price collapsed, Virgin (ASX:VAH) entered voluntary administration and international markets somewhat held up with the Stoxx600 and the S&P500 gaining 0.7% and losing 1.8% respectively.

Investors will be watching: Metcash (ASX:MTS), APA Group (ASX:APA) and Praemium (ASX:PPS). 

The Australian sharemarket is having a choppy start to the week and is tracking 1.4% lower before noon, erasing Friday's 1.3% gain. However, for the month of April, the market is still up 6.4%.

In Australia, investors will be watching: the Energy sector, Caltex (ASX:CTX), Fortescue Metals (ASX:FMG) and the Staples sector.

Looking at the biggest stock moves: AP Eagers (ASX:APE), Nine Entertainment (ASX:NEC), Domain (ASX:DHG) and Southern Cross Media (ASX:SXL).

With four consecutive weeks of growth, and the market gaining over 20% from its March lows, the bull market has technically set in. With all sectors up across the board, it seems Australian shares are steaming ahead for the short term. However, we look ahead to see what we could be in for based on historical data from the GFC.

In this week’s wrap, Jessica covers: 

• A bull market amid a bear (0:23)
• All sectors up: Energy leading the way (0:39)
• Stocks in the spotlight: NRW Holdings (ASX:NWH) up 46.61% (0:59)
• Weekly changes: mixed coverage for Afterpay (ASX:APT) (3:20)
• Bell Potter stock recommendations & champion stocks (4:12)
• What to watch next week (6:11)

Australian share market wrap Friday 17 April, featuring best and worst ASX 200 performers and what to watch next week.

The Australian sharemarket gained 1.3% today. Over the week the market rose 1.9%, rising for the 4th straight week. So far this April, the market has gained over 8%. That’s THE best monthly gain in over 9 years.

In terms of Economic new out today: China’s Industrial production fell 1.1% in March on a YOY basis, while the market expected it to drop by 7%. Chinese economic growth fell by 9.8% in the first 3-months of the year. That fall was better than the 9.9% drop expected.

That's why we saw the ASX Industrial sector rise the most, up 4.5% today leading most sectors higher. While Consumer Staples gained the least with Treasury Wine Estates and Coca Cola shares fall.

Best performer: Mayne Pharma, (ASX:MYX) up 9% after getting ready to enter the U.S with a contraceptive pill that could produce $200 million a year in sales. Stockland (ASX:SGP) shares gained 8.5% after increasing its liquidity to combat reduced foot-traffic across its shopping centres. Worst performer: Coca Cola (ASX:CCL) losing 6.1% despite flagging $140 million in savings measures.