Market Updates

The ASX 200 slid a mere 3 points to 8846 as the US government shutdown weighed on sentiment. BHP under pressure from the off on news of a halt to iron ore sales in China, falling 2.5% with RIO up 0.5% and FMG doing well, up 1.4%. Lithium stocks under pressure on CATL news of a reopening, MIN fell 3.8%, LTR off 10.7% and PLS falling 6.4%. Copper stocks mixed, SFR up 1.6% and gold miners mostly firm, new record highs for bullion. NST up 0.8%, GMD up 0.7% and WGX rising 10.7% on its 3-year plan. Uranium eased and oil and gas mixed, STO up 0.5%. 

Banks eased back slightly, CBA up 0.1% with the Big Bank Basket down to $283.09 (-0.1%). Financials found some friends, SOL up 5.4% and MPL rising 0.6%. Healthcare better, CSL up 0.3% and RMD rising 0.8%. Industrials mixed, BXB up 1.3% with TLS rebounding 0.6%. Retail stocks eased a little, tech mixed, WTC up 0.6% and XRO up 0.6%. 

In corporate news, BVS soared 18.2% on guidance improving. APE in a trading halt pending a capital raise and a Canadian acquisition. ASB jumped 5.8% on a US Naval agreement.

On the economic front, nothing locally. Asian markets muted as China National Day takes precedence. Japan down 1%.

10-year yields drifted higher to 4.35%. US Futures down 0.5% on shutdown.

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Wall Street recorded another positive session despite markets preparing for a US government shutdown and delays to key economic data releases such as the jobs report on Friday. S&P 500 up 0.4%, Nasdaq rose 0.3%. Dow was choppy from open but found strength in the last hour. Closed near high, up 82 points. Broadly positive sector performance. Healthcare the best performer, boosted by Pfizer rising 6.8% after Trump said he’d cut all prices in Medicaid for lowest-income Americans and expected other pharmaceutical companies to follow suit. Industrials and Materials also contributed positively to gains.  Energy followed oil down as +OPEC plans a supply hike, while Financials and Cyclicals rounded out the negative performers.

ASX to open flat. SPI futures down 5 points (-0.06%).

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The ASX 200 gave up early gains to close down 14 points at 8849 (0.2%). Banks eased back with CBA down % and ANZ falling % as the Big Bank Basket dropped to $283.23 (-0.6%). Insurers gave back yesterday’s gains. QBE down 0.7% and SUN off 0.8%. Other financials also eased slightly. REITS rose, GMG though fell 0.8%. In the industrials, TLS dropped another 1.4% and tech was mixed, WTC down another 3.0%. XRO finally finding some friends. Up 0.1%. Healthcare mixed as CSL flat after CFO retired. 

In resources, copper and gold continue to dominate, BHP and RIO had good days up 1.5% and 0.6% respectively. Gold once again shone bright, NST up 1.2% and EVN rising %. NEM is in for a C-Suite change and fell 2.3%. Base metal and copper stocks doing well again. Oil and gas falling hard on crude prices, WDS down 1.7% and STO off 2.5%. Nothing much happening in uranium stocks. 

In corporate news, SWM and SXL are set to merge. RBD up 59.3% on a takeover approach. And SGR rose 1.1% after it finalised a deal with its lenders.

On the economic front, the RBA left rates unchanged. Bullock said ‘we’re close’ to getting economy back in balance. But we need to be cautious about inflation. Chinese PMI came in below forecasts. 

Asian markets mixed, China up 0.3%, HK up 0.3% - Japan down 0.2% on PM uncertainty.

10-year yields steady at 4.34%.

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Wall Street recorded a positive session as markets were unmoved by a potential US government shutdown over funding issues and hawkish commentary by FED officials.  S&P 500 up 0.3%, Nasdaq rose 0.5%. Dow dropped at open, was choppy for much of the session, but found strength from about 1:30pm and steadily rose throughout the remainder of the day. Closed near high, up 69 points. Broadly positive sector performance. Energy the only negative performer, followed oil down on reports of +OPEC increasing supply. Cyclicals the best performer, boosted by a 1.1% rise in Amazon after it settled a FTC lawsuit for $2.5Bn over Prime sign-ups and cancellation difficulties, biggest civil penalty in FTC history. Industrials, Materials and Healthcare also contributed to the broad-based positive sector performance.

ASX to rise. SPI futures up 15 points (+0.17%).

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The ASX 200 kickstarted the week in style up 75 points to 8863 (0.9%). Gold was once again leading the charge as it pushed through US$3800, NST up 3.1% and NEM rising 4.0%. EVN also turned in a good day up 4.4%. Iron ore miners were a little floppy on steel demand in China and looming 7 -day holiday. FMG fell 2.1%. Copper and other base metal stock continue to push higher, 29M up 4.8% and MLX up 4.1%. Rare earth stocks saw profit taking, ILU down 3.9% and LYC modestly off. Energy stocks saw sellers, KAR down 1.7% and PDN falling 2.4% with WHC off 3.4%.

Banks were firm today ahead of the RBA.  CBA soaring 2.2% with WBC up 2.0%. MQG recovered 1.3% with other wealth managers also better, NWL up 2.1% and insurers rallied, QBE up 1.6% and IAG up 1.3%. Healthcare was firm as CSL traded 2.5% higher on tariff hopes, RMD up 1.2% and MSB up 0.8%. REITs lacklustre, tech eased back in places, WTC down 1.2% and TNE up 1.5%. Retailers were flat, APE off 0.6% and SUL down another 1.0%. ALL a bright spot up 2.0%. 

In corporate news, MIN was down 0.8% on haul road news, SM1 up 10.4% on the sale of its North Island assets, and BVS rose 2.5% on a new CEO. 

Nothing on the economic front, RBA tomorrow. 

Asian markets mixed, China up 2.1% Japan down 1% on PM uncertainty.

10-year yields easing to 4.34%.

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Wall St snapped its three-day losing streak overnight as the PCE price index came bang in line with expectations, quickly reigniting hopes of at least two rate cuts by the end of the year. Consumer spending slightly countered this view, surprising to the upside and reinforcing Thursday’s GDP revision. Bond yields down, USD down, gold up, equities up. S&P 500 up 0.59% on low volume. Dow Jones up 300 points. Nasdaq underperformed. Up 0.44%. The rally initially dented as Consumer Sentiment came in lower than expected before stocks rebounded to close on a high. The inflation print outweighed news of Trump announcing tariffs on pharmaceuticals, heavy trucks and furniture. All three indices logged their first week of losses in a month albeit minimal damage. S&P 500 -0.31% vs the ASX 200 +0.16%. Dow Jones down 68 points. Nasdaq down 0.65%.

SPI up 21 - RBA tomomorrow.

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The ASX 200 finished the week up 15 points to 8788 in range bound trade. Up 15 points for the week! PCE tonight in the US. Banks firmed with the Big Bank Basket up to $279.52(+0.7%). CBA up 0.7% with insurers better too, QBE up 1.2% and SUN rising 1.5%. REITs still under some pressure. GMG down 0.9%. Wealth managers still struggling from recent fund failure pessimism. HUB down 4.2% and NWL off 2.9%. Industrials generally becalmed, TCL down 0.9% with CPU down 1.8% and SGH falling 0.5%. ORG fell 2.7% with tech struggling. The All-Tech Index down 0.6%.

Resources were once again the place to be. Maybe not the leaders, but the second tier was on a tear. DTR up another 17.5% with VUL doing well on a new German geo-thermal deal, up 15.6%. Gold miners rose, WGX up 2.9% and GGP rising 0.4%. NST up 0.4% as Goldfields sold down. Copper stocks were also strong, AIS up 13.1%. Few buyers creeping back in to uranium, NXG up 3.1% and DYL up 1.5%. Oil and gas stocks eased slightly.

In corporate news, CSL fell hard early on tariff news, it did rally from lows, down 1.9% at the close. MSB said no effect from tariffs. Still fell 3.6%. GOR is no longer as Goldfields wraps up its acquisition. IPX rallied hard on a new US government contract. Up 6.1%.

On the economic front, nothing locally. All eyes on the RBA next week. No change expected.

In Asian markets, Japan down 0.6%, China off 0.3% and HK off 0.4%.

10-year yields pushing higher to 4.39%.

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Wall Street recorded a third consecutive day of losses as markets digested mixed economic data, with initial jobless claims rising by 14,000 to 218,000 while other data showed the US economy grew faster than previously estimated in Q2. S&P 500 down 0.5%, Nasdaq fell 0.5%. Dow dropped at open, recovered, and from 11am oversaw a choppy session downward. Closed near middle of range, down 174 points. Primarily negative sector performance. Healthcare, Cyclicals, Utilities and Materials, all recorded losses of over 1.0%. At the opposite end, Energy was once again the biggest gainer, third consecutive day, Russia limited fuel exports and Q2 US GDP revised up. Financials also made modest gains.

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The ASX 200 shrugged off a negative lead and rose 9 points to 8774 (0.1%) as resources kept the dream alive. Copper stocks were the go. BHP and RIO leading the charge, 3.6% higher as Grasberg issues pushed the focus onto supply issues. S32 also ran 2.7% and SFR was a standout up 7.6%. MIN rallied % as lithium stocks found a little love. FMG unchanged. No copper. Gold miners were sold down in some profit taking, GMD off 2.3% and WGX falling 5.4%. EVN unchanged on its copper exposure. Oil and gas better as crude pushed higher on geopolitical issues, WDS up 2.5% and STO rising 2.1%. Uranium stocks took a breath.

Banks were solid with the Big Bank Basket rising to $277.65 (). MQG got a $321m agreed to reimburse customers involved in its Shield Master Trust problems, insurers lid, QBE down 1.2% and SUN off 3.0%. NWL continued to struggle on the Sentier issue. Industrials were easier, BXB fell 1.2%, QAN dropped 0.8% and WOW and COL both fell close to 0.8%. REITs under pressure, GMG down 1.1% as rates rose slightly following the CPI yesterday. Tech mixed, WTC up 0.2% and healthcare sliding, RMD down 2.6% and RHC off 1.8%.

In corporate news, NEC announced its chair will retire after AGM. PMV reported slightly better than expected results, but Smiggle has some issues. WDS signed a deal with the Japanese for liquid hydrogen deliveries.

Nothing on the economic front. Asian markets slightly firmer, China up 0.7%. Japan up 0.2%, HK unchanged.

10-year yields pushed up to 4.33%

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Wall Street recorded a second consecutive day of losses as markets continued to digest Powell’s comments from earlier in the week, that equity valuations seemed slightly stretched and the Fed was walking the tightrope between a weakening labour market and persistent inflation. S&P 500 down 0.3%, Nasdaq fell 0.3%. Dow fell steadily throughout the first hours of trading and found its floor around noon. Closed near low, down 172 points. Mixed sector performance. Materials, REITs and Tech the three worst performers. Materials was dragged down by Freeport-McMoRan which fell 17% after declaring force majeure at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia. At the opposite end, Energy was once again the biggest gainer, followed oil up as US stockpiles tightened, hit 7-week high. Cyclicals and Utilities also did well.

ASX to fall. SPI futures down 45 points (-0.51%).

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