Today’s Headlines

• ASX 200 down 11 to 6181 as RC report looms.
• High 6197 Low 6180. Tight range modest volumes.
• Wake me up when September ends.
• Option expiry and end of quarter rebalancing.
• Banks continue to weaken ahead of RC tomorrow.
• Resources hit by profit-taking.
• Energy stocks hang tough as rest of the market is mixed.
• AUD slips to 72.27c ahead of RC.
• Bitcoin steady at 6456c.
• Aussie Gold steady at $1651.
• US futures down 44.
• Asian markets slip on Fed moves Japan down 1.18% and China -0.70%.

FUTURES AND HIGHS AND LOWS

STOCK STUFF

• MSB -unchanged- rally peters out
• BPT +7.54% investor day.
• NAB -0.44% hit with class action.
• ANZ -0.61% share trading platform remains down.
• SDA +6.11% technical buying after being oversold.
• SXY +3.23% finally starting to grab a bid on oil price.
• WTC +4.12% continues to march higher. Tariffs and Brexit good news.
• APT+4.89% dentist deal adds to story.
• MAQ -5.00% ex-dividend.
• NEA -3.16% some profit taking.
• IVC -2.01% acquisitions weigh.
• XRO -0.97% issues convertible note.
• CCL +2.19% emerging as potential buyer of Lion brands.
• VEA -0.87% uninspiring since listing.
• TAW +20.00% funding package secured and reinstatement to listing.
• SPL +6.08% biotechs doing well currently.
• PNV +3.51% directors tick of approval.
• Speculative stock of the day: Keytone Dairy (KTD) +23.00% after an update on its first repeat order from Taiwan, first sales in Australia and products launched in Shanghai First Food Mall
• Biggest risers – BPT, SDA, SPL, NAN, HT1, ECX and HLO.
• Biggest fallers – MAQ, FAR, DCN, MAH, NEA and MGX.

TODAY

• Beach Energy (BPT) +7.54% Investor presentation. BPT is targeting more than $2.3bn in five-year cumulative free cash flow and expects to be close to debt free by the end of FY20. The company also outlined plans to grow production to 34-40 MMboe in FY23, up from the FY18 result of 19 MMboe and ahead of FY19 forecasts of 26 to 28 MMboe. Return on capital employed (ROCE) target for the next five years is anticipated to be in the range of 17% to 20%.
• Virtus Health (VRT) –0.36% Appoints Shane Solomon to its board as a Non-executive Director. He will be replacing Peter Turner, who is retiring as a director of the company at the upcoming AGM.
• Transurban (TCL) –0.71% Reaches financial close on the acquisition of a 51% stake in WestConnex from the NSW government.

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

The number of job vacancies in Australia in August 2018 was 240,900 (trend), an increase of 3.4% over the quarter, according to new Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures.

Bruce Hockman, Chief Economist at the ABS, said, “We’re still seeing growth in the quarterly trend measure of job vacancies but at a much slower rate. It’s down on the recent growth in May and also below last August, when it was 4.6%.”

Over the year, job vacancies increased by 19.3%, with private sector vacancies increasing by 20.3% and public sector vacancies by 9.5%. ABC vacancies just increased by 2.

• Total job vacancies in August 2018 were 240,900, an increase of 3.4% from May 2018.
• The number of job vacancies in the private sector was 220,000 in August 2018, an increase of 3.4% from May 2018.
• The number of job vacancies in the public sector was 20,900 in August 2018, an increase of 3.3% from May 2018.

• RBNZ keeps rates on hold. Says not sure whether next move is up or down.

BOND MARKETS

ASIAN MARKET NEWS

• Shares in China Renaissance, the specialist investment bank backed by an Alibaba affiliate, slumped nearly 20% on their debut.
• Profit growth at China’s large industrial companies slowed to a five-month low last month in what analysts say is a sign the US-China trade dispute is hurting the world’s second-largest economy.
• China’s private debt has hit a record high.

EUROPEAN AND US HEADLINES

• Trump says Xi may not be his ‘best buddy’ now after meddling in the mid-terms.
• Trump reckons the UN was laughing with him rather than at him.
• Hazard hits winner against Liverpool.
• Argentina announces US$57bn bail out from the IMF.
• Reuters says that only 630 people have moved from the city to foreign shores as a result of the supposed financial exodus. UK-based finance firms now expect to ultimately relocate up to 5,800 jobs in a ‘hard’ Brexit scenario.

And finally……………

A lady comes home from her doctor’s appointment grinning from ear to ear. Her husband asks, “Why are you so happy?”

The wife says, “The doctor told me that for a forty-five year old woman, I have the breasts of a eighteen year old.”

“Oh yeah?” quipped her husband, “What did he say about your forty-five year old ass?” She said, “Your name never came up in the conversation.”

Clarence 

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