The ASX 200 lurched out of the gate with solid early gains giving way to profit taking as the day wore on. A final flourish though as the ASX 200 rose 25 to 6058 ahead of a US holiday and long weekend. Banks were the swing factor as usual turning negative with the Big Bank Basket up to $128.04c and CBA up 0.7%. Miners were mixed, BHP up 0.7% and RIO down 1.4% on a Mongolian update. Industrials were mixed with tech taking a break, APT fell % after hitting another high and XRO held firm near record levels, down 0.7%, the All Tech Index rose 0.6%. Elsewhere TLS had a good day up 4.0% as it raised postpaid mobile prices, CSL pushed ahead with a 2.7% rise and WOW up 1.6%. Slight pause in TCL up 0.5% and other defensives. In company news, LOV rose 0.3% as online sales in Q4 were up 256% vs year ago. On the economic front, retail turnover rose 16.9% in May vs market consensus of a 16.3% lift. The 10-year yield steady at 0.89% and the dollar hardly changed. In Asian markets mild positives in thin trade, Japan up 0.4% and China up 0.9% HK up 0.7% Chinese PMI also a good number today.

Today’s Highlights

• ASX 200 gives up early strong gains as weekend looms. Up 25 to 6058.
• High 6104 Low 6022. Below average volume.
• ASX 200 up 2.6% for the week.
• July 4^th Long Weekend in US
• Big Bank Basket rallies hard to $128.04c
• All Tech Index up 0.6%
• 84 trading days until the US election.
• Dow Futures up 6. Holiday beckons.
• 10-year bond yields slip to 0.89%
• AUD firms to 69.28c
• Aussie gold slips to $2562.
• Bitcoin steady at US$9097
• In Asian markets mild positives in thin trade, Japan up 0.4% and China up 0.9% HK up 0.7%

STOCKS

• WBC -0.4% hit with a $8m underpayment bill.
• COH +5.9% product approvals.
• ABC -25.40% takes a $70m hit on Alcoa.
• RIO -1.45% Mongolian review.
• TLS +4.02% price rises on postpaid mobile.
• LOV +0.33% Citi says sell.
• XRO -0.69% record highs.
• KGN -0.76%% hits the highs.
• JIN -4.26% profit taking
• OEC -39.88% military spending on drones?
• TPW -4.30% profit taking.
• DTL +5.69% tech catch up.
• MP1 +3.21% book squaring.
• TUA +37.68% becoming a substantial shareholder.
• AEI +5.22% market update.
• ESK -27.20% hot air escaping quickly.
• SWM -7.62% still falling.
• RCE -6.04% director’s resignation.
• Speculative Stock of the Day: Osprey Medical (OSP) +127.27% big volume on an ASX speeding ticket.  Response was the Schultz. They know nothing.
• Biggest Rises: OCL, COH, DTL, BGA, WTC, CNU and ALU.
• Biggest Falls: ABC, AMI, DEG, PSI, IEL, NWL and FLT.

TODAY

• Lovisa Holdings (LOV) +0.33% FY sales revenue $237m vs year-ago $249m. Comparable store sales for the period since stores have re-opened, based on the actual days each store traded, were down 32.5% on last year. Performance was strongest in Australia and New Zealand as the markets that have been trading longest post re-opening and with the least restrictions in place. Online in Q4 was up +256% vs year ago. Not in a position to provide any update on our expectations of future trading patterns.
• National Storage REIT (NSR) -0.26% Speculation Abacus Property Group (ABP) is inching towards a takeover bid for NSR. ABP recently lifted its interest (to 8.1% from 7.1%) this week along with a Macquarie research note highlighting the strategic advantage to consolidating the self-storage sector.
• ADBRI Limited (ABC) -25.40% Subsidiary Cockburn Cement has been informed by Alcoa that it has elected not to renew its current lime supply contract expiring on 30 June 2021. The contract generates ~$70m in annual revenue for the group, its non-renewal is not expected to materially impact revenue until post June 2021.
• Cochlear (COH) +5.87% Receives FDA approval for the Nucleus Kanso 2 Sound Processor, Nucleus 7 Sound Processor for Nucleus 22 implant recipients, Custom Sound Pro fitting software and the Nucleus SmartNav system. The four new systems will be commercially released in the US and Western Europe in the next few months, subject to local approvals.

ECONOMIC NEWS

• Retail turnover rose 16.9% in May vs market consensus of a 16.3% lift. The reading follows a fall of 17.7% in April, and a rise of 8.5% in March.

COVID-19 NEWS

• UK companies in a central bank survey conducted in June, said sales in the second quarter would be almost 40% lower because of the pandemic.
• Tokyo confirmed 124 cases of coronavirus Friday, with about 50 of them traced to the nightlife district in Shinjuku.
• Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said the “spectacular incompetence” in the government’s handling of the epidemic. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has forecast as many as 160,000 deaths by July 25^th.
• Mexico reported a record daily rise of 6,741 confirmed cases, bringing the total to 238,511. Brazil registered 48,105 new cases, the second-most for a single day and a 3.3% rise from a day earlier.

BONDS

ASIAN NEWS

• SoftBank closes in on 2020 peak despite WeWork not working.
• Thin trade across Asian markets.
• Chinese services sector rose at its fastest pace in a decade. The Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 58.4, the highest reading since April 2010, from May’s 55.0, pulling further away from the trough hit in February as the coronavirus lockdown paralysed the economy.

EUROPEAN NEWS

• European market look to a modest rise  on the opening with US closed.
• German rescue package for Wirecard looks likely.
• American Airline may be overstaffed by up to 20,000 people.

And finally…more from Stephen..thanks mate

Sad news. Reg Watkins, the circus Human Cannonball died yesterday. Arnold Thistlethwaite the Ringmaster said “we will never see a man of his calibre again”.

 

I’ve just had a decorator in to do some work. I got chatting to him and it turns out he is a Qantas pilot who’s been furloughed and earning a bit of extra cash.

He made a lovely job of the landing.

 

I see they are opening a Botox clinic down our road….that’s going to raise some eyebrows…

 

Weird. I found a random jigsaw piece on my doorstep today. I have no idea where it came from. It’s a bit of a puzzle ….

 

Steve Winwood began his solo career in 1977. He would’ve started sooner, but he was stuck in Traffic.

Clarence

XXX