ASX 200 rose 27 points to 6596 after early rises petered out with a late surge returning with some conviction especially in the banks. US futures down 25 points. CBA went ex-dividend knocking 13 points off the headline number.CSL results cheered the market with the stock rising 6.6%. Banks mixed suffering some slings and arrows after the NAB 3Q update failed to ignite the blue touch paper and fell 0.1%. MFG fell 6.8% after its placement and its return to trading coincided with some broker downgrades. In industrials, PGH tumbled 16.9% after abandoning the dividend and a nasty set of numbers. Miners fared well as brokers upgraded iron ore forecasts, maybe a week or so late. BHP rose 1.1% FMG up 4.7%. Oil stocks were also better on crude rises on global growth hopes with WPL up 1.2%. Gold miners though were panned. SBM fell 7.1% NST down 7.3% and EVN down 4.4% as brokers rushed to take profits or downgrade. In other corporate news, AOG looks like it is heading for the altar with a 219.5c bid from Brookfield. In bond markets, the 10-year yield rose 1bps to 0.94%. Asia markets firmed and HK airport reopened. China released some soft numbers on the economic front as Japan rose 0.9% and China up 0.7%.

Todays Highlights

• ASX 200 up 27 to 6596
• High 6601 Low 6556.
• Early rally evaporates with Chinese data.Bounces at close.
• Yuan fix at 7.0312. Higher again.
• Banks slip as CBA div weighs.
• CSL pumping.
• Miners recover on broker forecasts.
• AUD rises to 67.87c
• Aussie gold falls to $2210
• Bitcoin slips to $10558.
• US futures down 25
• Asian markets weaker with Japan down 1.20% and China down 1.02%

STOCKS

• RFF +7.86% rebound continues.
• ADT +14.58% solid bounce builds.
• AOG +5.47% Brookfield are back.
• AMP +4.70% bucks trend.
• REA +3.80% broker upgrades.
• ECX +7.24% sale of Right2Drive?
• JIN +4.49% hits jackpot.
• PGH -16.91% sent packing. Div cut.
• MFG -6.84% placement weighs, broker downgrades.
• NST -7.35% RSG -4.75% EVN -4.44% gold
• ISX -4.09% profit taking.
• AGY +1.01% buying US lithium brine project for $585,000
• VCX -1.98% pulls sale of retail centres. ‘Unforgiving investors’ to blame.
• M7T +6.67% new contracts.
• NTU +8.70% rare earths move.
• CMM -8.89% gold hedging done.
• Speculative stock of the day: Nothing on volume. Castle Minerals (CDT) +83.33% strikes a $11.7m farm-in agreement.
• Biggest Risers: RFF, PNV, CSL, PLS, AOG and DDR.
• Biggest Falls: PGH, SLR, SAR, NST, SBM, MFG, ISX

TODAY

• Adairs (ADH) –0.69% Appoints Ashley Gardner as CFO, effective August 14. Gardner previously served as CFO of both David Jones and Country Road Group and Regional CFO of their parent company, Woolworths Holdings Limited.
• Caltex (CTX) +1.56%Has announced that CEO Julian Segal plans to retire but will stay in the role until a replacement is found.
• Vicinity Centres (VCX) –1.98 Full-year results; statutory NPAT fell short of estimates at $346.1m vs consensus of $664.7m. Revenue from ordinary activities was down 3.6% to $1.28bn. Funds from operations (FFO) was 2.7% weaker at $689.3m. Net tangible assets per security came in slightly ahead of company estimates at 292c vs expectations of 291c. A final distribution of 7.95c per security was declared. VCX Expects FFO per security in FY20 between 17.8c and 18c. VCX has also axed plans for more major asset sales and the establishment of a $1bn wholesale fund with a unit of Singapore conglomerate Keppel Corp. Citing an oversupply of malls on the market that has dragged down transaction values for retail property in Australia.
• Brookfield Property has agreed to acquire Aveo Group (AOG) +5.47% for 219.5c per share, valuing the aged care operator at $1.27bn. If approved the takeover would be completed later in 2019.

ECONOMIC NEWS

• The Westpac Consumer Confidence index rose 3.6% to 100.0
• The House Price Expectations Index posted a solid 5.1% increase.
• Bill Evans the chief WBC economist had this to say. “The Index is up 40% since May and back on a par with levels in mid-2018, although still 18% below its previous peak in March 2017.”
• Sentiment towards whether now was ‘a good time to buy a home’ also lifted by 3%, leaving it at the highest level since early 2014.
• The seasonally adjusted Wage Price Index (WPI) rose 0.6%in the June quarter 2019 and 2.3% through the year, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Growth in the public sector dominates. Must be the politicians pay rises moving through the system.

BOND MARKETS

• 2-Year bond yields up 1bps to 0.72%.
• 5-Year yields unchanged at 0.67%
• 10-Year yields down 2bps to 0.94%

ASIAN NEWS

• Yuan fix higher again 7.0312
• Hong Kong quietens down, but China refuses to let US warships dock in HK.
• Retails sales up 7.6% v estimates of 8.6% YoY
• Industrial production 4.8% v 5.8% forecasts.

• Core machinery orders in Japan jumped by the most in almost a year during June, data showed today.

EUROPEAN AND US NEWS

• European markets opening positively.
• UK continues to gear up for an early election in Autumn. Love this easy to understand Brexit round up.
• One rock star emerging bond guru lost US$1.8bn for his fund in Argentina this week. Maybe he won’t be singing from Evita.

• Facebook has halted its human review of audio chats.
• The average season ticket in the UK for rail travel is now over GBP3,000. The biggest rise will be on the Virgin Trains route from Birmingham to London, now costing an eye watering GBP10,902. Privatising the railways really worked out well. For Virgin.
• German Q2 GDP -0.1% as forecast.

And finally………..Best of the Edinburgh fringe

John Luke Roberts: I remember what my grandmother said to me on her deathbed. She said: ‘I wish I’d bought a normal bed.’

Tom Taylor: I’d like to see a croissant tackle a terrorist. They are flaky at the best of times.

Steff Todd: My new boyfriend told me he’s got my face as his wallpaper, which I thought was cute until I saw his lounge.

 

Clarence

XXX