Market Updates

ASX 200 powers to a 5-month high of 7378 up 120 (1.7%) as the Fed delivers in time for a very happy Xmas. A leap this morning on the open following the dot plots and the Q&A session. Bond yields tumbled with the Australian 10-year yield back to 4.12%. Financials, REITs rallied hard, the Big Bank Basket at $187.00(+1.1%), CBA leading the charge higher but MQG had a great day up 3.5% together with other financials. Insurers slid a little on lower yields, but REITs took off too. GMG up 3.0% and SCG up 3.9%. Industrials and tech doing well, TCL rallying another 1.4% on lower rates, TLS up 1.8% and tech giants XRO and WTC all doing nicely nicely. The All-Tech Index up 2.1%. Healthcare in a strong place, CSL up 1.6% and RMD up 1.9%. Resources played catch up, iron ore majors in demand. All-time highs across the board, RIO, FMG and BHP if you add back the WDS. Gold miners soared after a couple of down days. NST rebounding 8.1% and GMD up 5.1%. Lithium stocks were the stand out as a short squeeze and perhaps a change in sentiment dragged the buyer back in. PLS up 8.6% and LTR rallying with LRS the standout. Oil and gas doing ok on a slightly higher oil price, WDS up 0.5% and KAR up 1.6%. In corporate news, some takeover action in small caps, VHT up 41.3% and WSP under siege with a 57c offer. GMD bought some gold projects off Kin Mining. VEA got the nod to acquire the OTR group, AWC jumped 8.7% on WA approvals, PAN called in the administrator. On the economic front, unemployment rose slightly to 3.9% with an increase in 61500 jobs created. Asian markets mixed, Japan down 0.9%, China up 0.3% and HK bouncing 1.1%. 10-year yields 4.11%

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ASX 200 rose another 23 points to 7258 (0.3%) in another solid day. Once again banks led us higher with the Big Bank Basket up to $185.04 (+0.8%). WBC leading the charge. MQG had a good day up 1.5% but insurers slid with IAG down 3.2% and SUN off 1.0%. REITs were mixed, GMG bouncing nicely, SCG down %. Healthcare also picking up, CSL up another 1.1% and RMD doing ok, up 1.2%. Tech stalled and industrials a little flat, WOW down 0.7% and EDV down 1.0%. TCL picked up 0.2% on lower rates. Resources once again dominated by iron ore stocks with FMG up 1.3% to an all-time high, BHP rose 0.7% and RIO up 0.8%. Lithium stocks flat, gold miners under pressure again, NST down 1.1% and NEM off 2.8%. Sentiment turned full circle in a week. Oil and gas stocks fell, WDS off 1.1% and STO down 0.1%. Not even a merger could save them today. In corporate news, SIG returned to trade up 40.00% having raised $400m to fund operations and get the Chemist Warehouse deal done. AIZ fell 2.5% on a downgrade. On the economic front, the Albanese government released the MYEFO, no real surprises and no real stimulus or help for those suffering from cost-of-living pressures. In Asian markets, Japan up 0.3%, China off 0.9% and HK off 0.7%. 10-year yields fell back to 4.27%.

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US equities closed mostly higher overnight, finishing near best levels after inflation data did little to alter views for the timing of a rate cut by the Fed next year. The Dow Jones advanced 173 points (+0.48%). Dow up 191 points at best. Dow down 32 points at worst. The S&P 500 hit a fresh year-to-date high.

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ASX 200 pushed on to a three-month high on a low volume day. Up 36 points to 7235 (+0.5%). Banks up, with CBA up 0.4% and ANZ rallying 0.8%, with the Big Bank Basket up to $183.67 (+0.5%). MQG up 0.4%, with insurers slightly weaker, QBE down 0.2%. REITs firmed, GMG up 0.7% and VCX up 2.6%, with industrials also in demand, BXB up 1.6% and WOW doing well up 1.8%, with JBH up 0.6%. Tech also in demand, with XRO leading the charge of broker optimism. WTC up 2.68% and the All-Tech Index up 1.2%. Healthcare better too, COH up 2.4% on a broker upgrade. CSL improved 0.7%, and RMD gaining 1.3% on a positive court ruling. In resources, Iron ore miners mixed, FMG up 1.6% with BHP flat and RIO weaker. Lithium stocks once again sold off, PLS down 2.8% and LYC tanking 4.6% gold miners were mixed, NST down 0.2% and NEM up 0.1%%. Oil and gas stocks firm, coal up with WHC up 1.8%. In corporate news, SIG returns to trade tomorrow, IPL has a new CEO, and on the economic front, a positive Q&A from RBA chief helped sentiment. Asian markets trading with a positive bias, Japan down 0.2%, HK bouncing 0.9%, and China up 0.1%. Dow Futures up 10 points. NASDAQ Futures up 20 points. 

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Overnight on Wall Street, stocks edged up ahead of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting of the year. The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, Nasdaq was up 0.2% and the Dow Jones added 0.4%. 

SPI Futures up 13 points.. Oracle falls 7% after hours on latest results.

• Base metals mixed. Nickel -1.51%, Zinc +1.05%, Lead +1.73%, and Tin -1.44%.
• Gold down 1.10%, hitting a three-week low as the USD and treasury yields firmed.
• Aluminium off 0.68%, touching three-month lows on expectations of rising inventories.
• Iron ore up 0.53% despite disappointing economic data from China.
• Copper -1.33% as mine closures and disruptions have changed the landscape for copper supplies.
• Brent Crude +0.4%, WTI +0.25% as OPEC+ cuts failed to full offset worries around crude oversupply and softer demand growth next year.
• 10Y Bond Yields – US 4.239%, Australia 4.368%, Germany 2.253%.
• Bitcoin down 6.82%.

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The ASX 200 rose only 4 points to 7199 (0.1%) after a promising start was ambushed by resource stocks falling. Lithium and gold stocks fell with some of the big lithium names seeing selling resume. PLS down 3.0% as a new chair was appointed. MIN off 1.1% and AKE up 1.0%. Iron ore stocks stalled, BHP down 0.4% and RIO unchanged. Gold miners eased back as bullion suffered from the higher USD. NEM down 1,2% and NST off 2.1%. Oil and gas saw some buying, WDS/STO both slightly better with KAR up 0.5%. Banks up but off highs with the Big Bank Basket stable at $182.79. MQG fell 0.1% and insurers eased back slightly. Healthcare was better with CSL and RMD up 0.3% and REITs mixed, GMG down 0.4%. Industrials flat amidst pockets of strength, WES up 1.1% and WOW up 0.8%. Tech mixed with the All-Tech Index unchanged. In corporate news, PGH saw another bid from Kin at 84c, up 22.6%, BUB unchanged on a trading forecast update, CGC fell 3.9% as the outlook dims, SKC has settled with Macquarie over its car park stoush. In economic news, immigration targets the big news today. IEL fell 2.2% on the news. Asian markets mixed with China and HK still weak. 10-year yields around 4.33%.

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Wall Street closed higher Friday with notable gains for the S&P 500 and NASDAQ, reaching their highest closing levels since early 2022, up 0.41% and 0.45%, respectively. The Dow finished near highs, up 130 points (+0.36%). Dow up 179 at best. Dow down 56 at worst. The rally was sparked by robust non-farm payroll and unemployment data, fuelling optimism for a soft landing, while also scaling back expectations the Fed will cut rates in March. Bonds were sold off, pushing yields higher again. 10Y and 2Y treasuries up 11bps. Among stocks, Paramount jumped 12% after reports of takeover interest. DocuSign rallied 4.8% after raising its annual revenue forecast, and Honeywell dipped 1.6% after it announced it would buy Carrier Global’s security business.

ASX 200 SPI Futures up 16 points.

• Base metals mixed. Nickel +2.09%, Aluminium +0.12%, Zinc -0.58%, Lead +0.27% and Tin +0.04%.
• Copper up 1.28%, lifted by firm demand from China.
• Gold down 1.11% as the US greenback and Treasury yields strengthened.
• Brent Crude and WTI oil prices rose 2.17% and 2.74%, but ended the week lower, marking its seventh consecutive weekly decline.
• 10Y Bond Yields – US 4.231%, Australia 4.359%, and UK 4.024%.

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Wall Street rallied overnight after Google and AMD triggered a mega cap rally on renewed optimism surrounding artificial intelligence. The Dow gained 63 points (+0.18%). Up 110 at best. Down 32 at worst. The S&P 500 halted a three-day decline, up 0.80%, and the NASDAQ gained 1.37% to mark its highest close of 2023. US Treasuries were subdued, 10Y yield finished little changed after an initial rise on hawkish signals from the BoJ. China lithium prices were down another 4.83%, gold was flat, and the USD Index fell 0.54%. Among Stocks, Google gained 5.3% following the launch of Gemini, saying the new AI model could narrow the gap in the race between OpenAI. Advanced Micro Devices rallied 9.7% after the company estimated the potential market for its data centre AI chips could reach $45bn this year.

ASX to slip. SPI Futures down 15 points (-0.21%).

• Base metals mixed. Aluminium -0.47%, Zinc -0.54%, Lead -0.44% and Tin +0.18%.
• Lithium continues its downward trend, down 4.83%.
• Iron ore remains elevated, up 1.11%
• Copper halted a three-session decline, up % helped by strong Chinese export data and a weaker USD.
• Nickel up 1.48%, as Nickel stocks in warehouses registered with LME rose to 10-month highs.
• Gold flat in the run-up to US non-farm payrolls data.  
• US 10Y yields fell 0.2bps to 4.119%, holding steady near three-month lows ahead of jobs report tomorrow.

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