ASX 200 slips 43 points to 5464 in quiet trade, losses accelerating into the close as energy, banks and materials take a breather. Asian markets mixed as Japan falls0.61% and China up 0.60%. AUD steady at 74.70c and US Futures down 51 points.

STOCKS AND SECTORS

• Resources dominated by BHP -2.60%, Rio Tinto (RIO) -1.15% and Syrah Resources (SYR) -2.27%. Western Areas (WSA) +4.13% bucked the trend as did the growing interest in Orocobre (ORE) +2.07% and Galaxy (GXY) +2.50%
• Energy stocks jittery ahead of the OPEC meeting this week. Santos (STO) -2.63%, Oil Search (OSH) -3.03% and Karoon Gas (KAR) -1.92%
• Gold miners back in vogue with modest gains Perseus (PRU) +6.48%, Gold Road (GOR) +4.13% and Metals X (MLX) +6.38%
• Industrials mixed with Tabcorp (TAH) +1.94% a stand out on M&A rumours of Ladbrokes taking a shot at the company and disrupting the Tatts Group (TTS) +0.71% deal.
• Telcos slightly better with TPG (TPM) +1.34% and Vocus (VOC) +1.59% although Telstra (TLS) +0.20% hardly moved the dial. One of the big industrial losers was Amcor (AMC) -3.94% after Credit Suisse downgraded the company outlook citing lack of growth as a concern.
• IT stocks had some casualties in Nextdc (NXT) -4.50%, Rhipe (RHP) -9.33% and SMS Management (SMX) -3.78%. Couple of big winners in the IT Space Megaport Limited (MP1) +4.38% and Integrated Research (IRI) +7.80%
• Banks had a day of profit taking with the big four basket falling to $165.00 around 1.3% down across the board. IOOF Holdings (IFL) +4.53% surged on bid talk in the pares from Perpetual (PPT) -0.33%
• New listing today: Esports Mogul Asia (ESH) +7.14% after a backdoor listing through Volta Mining
• Speculative stock of the day: Equator Resources (EQU) +60.00% after announcing a deal to buy a high grade strategic cobalt asset in Canada.

CORPORATE NEWS

• Metcash (MTS) +4.30% first-half underlying net profit fell 4.7% to $82.8m. Reported net profit slumped 39% to $74.9 million from $122m in the year-earlier period, which included earnings from Metcash’s auto businesses, sold last year. No dividend as per guidance but Hardware business is making up ground.
• Netcomm (NTC) -5.79% after announcing the surprise retirement of CEO David Stewart a highly respected tech leader. The comp-nay has promoted the former CFO as interim chief and is now searching for a replacement.
• Vita Group (VTG) -16.94% after a very buoyant rally on Friday on news it had come to an agreement with Telstra seems to have evaporated. Looks like there were some awkward questions on the analysts’ conference call and the losses accelerated as the news sunk in.

ECONOMIC NEWS

• Nothing significant today.
• Backpacker tax looks like being passed at 15%. Good to see Canberra tackling the deficit one tax at a time. And backpackers do not vote after all.
• The number of new apartments expected to be launched in Brisbane between now and June next year has suddenly dropped 25% as developers struggle to get funding or encounter planning delays. The latest data from Urbis shows that apartment sales in Brisbane hardly increased in the September quarter, and that the amount of planned apartments has been dramatically scaled back.

BOND CORNER

• Government 5-year yields 2.24% down 4 bps
• 10-year yield 2.70% down 6 bps.

ASIAN NEWS

• Punters are not just piling into iron ore and coal in China, with news that glass futures in Zhenzhou hit a two year high two weeks ago.
• The Chinese yuan has risen the most in three weeks as the PBoC has vowed stability going forward. The currency rose 0.23%, the most since Aug. 10, to 6.9012 per US dollar.

• Garlic too is in demand with prices up 80-% from a year ago. Tulips next?

• Coal continues to head higher in China despite curbs being eased by authorities on working days allowed.

EUROPE AND THE US

• In France, Francois Fillon has won the mandate from the Republican party to contest the Presidential election in 2017 up against Marine Le Pen from the National Front.
• An interesting move from Electrolux as the manufacturer is testing the concept of washing machine Think they were called laundrettes but that is a bit analogue. Customers will be able to rent out their washing machines Uber like to wash other peoples’ clothes.
• In Italy the people go to the polls on Sunday to vote on the referendum with PM Renzi saying he will resign if the vote does not go his way. Given the way votes have gone for the UK and the US it seems that come next Monday Renzi will be looking for a new job and the political uncertainty created will play into the hands of the anti EU movement Five Star led by a former comedian.
• Lufthansa Pilots set to strike again on Tuesday and Wednesday after talks failed to resolve a pay row.
• Black Friday sales in the UK look to be set for a new record of buying things. Analysts expect sales on Friday to have topped last year’s £1.9bn, with people hunting for discounts ahead of an expected rise in prices in 2017.
• UK press are speculating that Ladbrokes is looking down under again as gaming companies have been forced to consolidate in recent years as regulation and tax measures squeeze their margins. Ladbrokes and Gala Coral completed their merger at the start of this month, and Paddy Power and Betfair also merged at the start of this year. Ladbrokes has already bought bookmakers Betstar and Bookmaker.com.au.
• Bank of England governor Mark Carney is to warn Brussels that the European financial system faces a shock unless policymakers give institutions more time to adapt to trading arrangements after Brexit.

And finally…………………

Clarence

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