ASX 200 falls 21 points to 6256 as miners get hit hard following news of a Vale mine reopening. Dow futures up 12. Banks saved the day with gains following their US peers and a rally into the results. CBA up 1% and WBC up 1.5%. Iron ore miners sufferd a big hit with FMG down 8.4% and RIO down 4.8% as Vale took the jam out of the doughnut. Iron ore in Asia was off around 3% but geared miners fell hard. Healthcare stocks too under a little pressure with CSL down 1.9%. Telcos had a day in the sun with TLS up 2.1% on hopes for a NBN write-down and in corporate news DLX saw a bid from Nippon Paint at 980c, closing up 27%. In Asian news, Chinese GDP came in slightly better than anticipated at 6.4%. AUD knocking on the door of 72c.

 

Today’s Highlights

• ASX 200 falls 21 to points to 6256. Good volume.
• High 6286 Low 6250.
• Vale expected to reopen Brazilian mine. Sector whacked. Asian ore falls over 3%.
• Energy mixed. STO better on quarterly.
• Banks firm ahead of numbers. TLS heads higher on broker upgrade and NBN talk.
• Healthcare lower led by CSL.
• AUD firms to 71.95c.
• Aussie Gold slips again to $1775.
• Bitcoin rallies to $5223.
• Dow futures up 12.
• Asian markets better with Japan up 0.26% and China up 0.61%.

STOCKS

• APT -5.89% question marks on US ownership structure.
• HLO +11.14% business update.
• BKL +6.46% CEO gets on front foot.
• TLS +2.13% broker upgrade.
• MFG +1.69% going gangbusters.
• FMG -8.27% Vale restarts mine.
• WTC -5.81% profit taking.
• WAM -2.24% ceasing to be substantial for A2B.
• CAT +7.76% purring along.
• SYR +6.11% shorty squeeze.
• NST -3.24% SBM -4.00% AUD gold price falls.
• RDY +17.88% newly listed IPO first day.
• PWH +2.37% EV winner?
• Speculative Stock of the Day: MGC Pharmaceuticals (MXC) +23.81% following an agreement for CBD Nutraceuticals entry into China market through YuShop Global..
• Biggest Rises: DLX, HLO, MP1, BKL, VOC and RMS.
• Biggest Falls: MGX, FMG, CUV, AAC, APT, WTC and GEM

TODAY

• Evolution Mining (EVN) –2.34% March quarter gold production down 3.35% on the December quarter to 175.0K ounces. All in sustaining costs cut by $48 per ounce to $925. FY19 group production guidance of 720-770k ounces at an AISC between $850 and 900 per ounce maintained.
• BHP Group (BHP) -2.54% Has cut its full-year iron ore guidance following tropical cyclone Veronica, now expected to be between 265-270Mt. Guidance for coal, petroleum & copper remains unchanged.
• Orocobre (ORE) +0.28% Has recorded its best March quarter at its Olaroz lithium facility with production up 10% on the year. Sales revenue was up 3.3% to US$33.4m while the average price received was down 11% on the previous quarter due to increased Chinese exports. ORE expects FY19 Olaroz production to be similar to FY18’s at 12,470t.
• Dulux Group (DLX)+27.12% Has accepted a takeover bid from Japanese group Nippon Paint for 980c per share. The offer price represents a 27.8% premium to Tuesday’s closing price. DLX will retain its brand & management
• Australian Pharmaceuticals Industries (API) +2.01% First half underlying NPAT came in at $26m vs expectations of $27.5m. Revenue was up 6.6% to $1.98bn and underlying EBITDA was 3% higher to $60.5m.
• Aurizon Holdings (AZJ) – March quarter total above rail volume down 1% to 62mt due to the termination of two iron ore contracts & weather-related events. FY19 coal volume guidance maintained, expected to be between 215 and 225mt.
• Brambles (BXB) +1.27% Third quarter trading update. Sales revenue from continuing operations was up 7% in the first nine months to $3.4bn in constant currency terms. Full-year guidance is unchanged. Brambles continue to expect FY19 constant-currency Underlying Profit growth to show modest improvement over the prior year. Cash generation is expected to improve in 2H19 from 1H19 levels.
• Santos (STO) +0.57% Record first quarter production of 18.4mmboe, up 33% on the year, helped along by the Quadrant Energy acquisition. Sales volumes were 21% higher at 22.8mmboe. Revenue was up 28% to $1,015m. Full-year guidance is unchanged.
• Helloworld (HLO) +11.14%Trading update for the first nine months. Reconfirms full-year EBITDA guidance, expected to be between $76 and 90m, vs consensus of $77m. Revenues up 8% year on year to $260.5m. EBITDA up 14.7% year on year to $54.9m.
• G8 Education (GEM) – 5.56% CEO provides a trading update at AGM; expects full-year occupancy growth to be at the upper end of targeted range although weighted to the second half. Current year trading is in line with key expectations.
• Challenger (CGF) -2.39% Total assets under management at the end of March $81 billion, up 4% in the quarter. FUM at the end of the quarter was $78.1 billion, up 4%. FUM benefited from positive investment markets, partially offset by net outflows of $37 million for the quarter. Full-year guidance reaffirmed NPBT expected to be between $545 and 565m.

ECONOMIC NEWS

• The pre-election economic and fiscal outlook (PEFO) has been published. Click here for the full release. “The economic and fiscal outlook for the Commonwealth has not materially changed since the publication of the 2019-20 Budget on 2 April 2019.” A deficit of $4.3bn expected in 2018/19.
• NZ has weaker than expected CPI numbers.

BOND MARKETS

• 2-Year bond yields up 1bps to 1.50%
• 5-Year yields up 1bps to 1.55%
• 10-Year yields up 3bps to 1.96%

ASIAN NEWS

• Chinese GDP up 6.4% yoy vs Forecast of 6.3% QoQ up 1.4%. Good numbers. Stimulus is working and countering trade issues.
• Property investment Jan-March is up 11.8%. Improving.
• Coal production up 2.8% Oil production up 2.1% YoY.
• Industrial output was up 8.5% in March, compared with only 5.3% in the first two months of the year and 5.7% in December last year. It was up 6.5% for the quarter.
• Retail sales growth was steady at 8.3%.
• Crude steel production jumped 9.9% in the first quarter.
• Japanese exports posted their fourth consecutive fall in March, driven by lower shipments to Asian countries

EUROPEAN AND US NEWS

• Macron wants Notre Dame rebuilt in five years. Bon Chance.
• The pay gap between bosses and workers in the US is extreme. A survey of 1000 CEOs revealed that 11 made more than 1000 times that of the median employee.
• Barcelona beat Man United.
• Now Apple has settled with Qualcomm, it could be playing catch up on 5G adoption. Intel is winding down its efforts on mobile phones, cancelling new products.

And finally………..

An old man in Mississippi was sitting on his front porch watching the sun rise. He sees the neighbor’s kid walk by carrying something big under his arm.

He yells out “Hey boy, whatcha got there?”

Boy yells back “Roll of chicken wire.”  Old man says “What you gonna do with that?”  Boy says “Gonna catch some chickens.”

Old man yells “You damn fool, you can’t catch chickens with chicken wire!”  Boy just laughs and keeps walking.

That evening at sunset the boy comes walking by and to the old man’s surprise he is dragging behind him the chicken wire with about 30 chickens caught in it.

Same time next morning the old man is out watching the sun rise and he sees the boy walk by carrying something kind of round in his hand.  Old man yells out “Hey boy, whatcha got there?”

Boy yells back “Roll of duck tape.”  Old man says “What you gonna do with that?”  Boy says back “Gonna catch me some ducks.”

Old man yells back, “You damn fool, you can’t catch ducks with duck tape!”

Boy just laughs and keeps walking.  That night around sunset the boy walks by coming home and to the old man’s amazement he is trailing behind him the unrolled roll of duck tape with about 35 ducks caught in it.

Same time next morning the old man sees the boy walking by carrying what looks like a long reed with something fuzzy on the end.

Old man says “Hey boy, whatcha got there?”  Boy says “It’s a pussy willow.”  Old man says “Wait up … I’ll get my hat.

 

Thanks to Unijokes for this gem..

Clarence

XXX