The ASX 200 trading in a tight range finally closing down 5 points to 5895 (0.1%) as we await the Fed. Dow futures up 44 points. Banks weighed on the index with the Big Bank Basket down to $116.26 as MQG slipped 1.3% again on some broker rethinks. Other financials also under a little pressure as IAG down 0.2% and QBE down 1.0%. Miners were bid again as BHP rose 0.7% and gold miners rose led by NCM and NST up 1.9% and 7.4% respectively. CSL rose 1.4% but TLS slipped yet again down 2.1% as the tea seemed cold at retail shareholders briefing. REITS firmed slightly but energy stocks remain under pressure after the OPEC soggy forecasts on demand. BNPL had a win with the regulators and saw buyers back in force, APT up 3.3% and SZL higher by 14.2%. The All Tech Index was slightly better by 0.75%. In corporate news, CAT unchanged on a contract win in Europe. QAN unchanged too as it is considering changing its headquarters. NWS down 1.4%, ING down 1.3% trading ex-dividend. WES improved 0.2% and HVN up 0.3% on broker upgrades. On the economic front, RBA minutes, click here to read the RBA meeting minutes. The board “agreed to maintain highly accommodative settings as long as required and to continue to consider how further monetary measures could support the recovery.” ANZ-Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence Index lifted 1.4% to 92.4 last week. Residential property prices fell 1.8% in the June quarter vs estimates of -1% to -1.3%. 10-year yields. In Asian markets mixed, China up 0.16% and Japan down 0.62% as Suga hit wears off.

Today’s Highlights

  • ASX 200 down 5 to 5895
  • High 5919 Low 5887. Very tight range.
  • Big Bank Basket falls again to $116.26
  • All Tech Index up 0.75% as APT rallies.
  • 33 trading days until the US election.
  • Dow Futures up 45.
  • Gold better at AUD$2684
  • 10-year bond yield steady at 0.86%
  • AUD steady at 73.27c on minutes.
  • Bitcoin firms to $10741
  • In Asian markets mixed, China up 0.16% and Japan down 0.62% as Suga hit wears off.

STOCKS

  • UWL +16.39% ups the ante in OPC fight.
  • SZL +14.24% good news in BNPL sector.
  • CRN +10.37% change in director’s interest.
  • EOS +8.91% European contract win.
  • NHC +5.76% coal turning.
  • 5GN +1.82% update on WCG scheme and proposal.
  • QAN unchanged considers shift to Brisbane to save money.
  • RED +4.76% KOTH FFS.
  • CYC +13.21% trial meets primary endpoint.
  • BRN -26.87% profit taking. No news from conference.
  • DEG -4.29% drilling update.
  • BTH -4.03% profit taking.
  • PBHRA +25.00% last day today.
  • OPY +8.66% change of director’s interest.
  • PAN +11.36% exploration update and presentation.
  • Speculative Stock of the Day: Jupiter Energy (JPR) +519.05% Operations update then a tradinghalt pending an ASX query on price move. Akkar oilfield approvals have been finalised it seems.
  • Biggest Winners: UWL, SZL, CRN, EOS, SLR and WAF
  • Biggest Losers: BRN, SKC, SIG, LEP, DEG and CWY.

TODAY

  • Catapult (CAT) – Wins four-year appointment with French Ligue Nationale de Rugby(LNR). The league has appointed CAT as the preferred supplier of technology to all teams that compete in France’s Top 14 and Pro D2 professional rugby competitions for the next four years.
  • Afterpay (APT) +3.35% US website visits recorded only a 1% lift over the month of August. Competition from names like PayPal anticipated to weigh on APT’s US user growth and gross profit margins. “The key concern is also the price point for merchants, [PayPal] looks to undercut Afterpay’s average margin of 4 per cent by a full 1 per cent,” according to Watermark Funds analyst, Harry Dudley. Brokers still bullish with most yet to adjust their recommendations following the tech-stock related sell-off and PayPal competition announcement. Citi observes the impact is lessened by Afterpay having a large consumer and merchant network.
  • Electro Optic Systems (EOS) +8.91% Awarded $4.3m contract for R400 Remote Weapon Systems to a European NATO country.
  • Qantas (QAN) – Considering moving out of its corporate headquarters in Sydney’s Mascot and shift them to Western Sydney Airport or even interstate, as it prepares for life as a smaller company.

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • Click here to read the RBA meeting minutes.
    • The board acknowledged a lower AUD would be beneficial to the recovery of the domestic economy.
    • Considered fiscal policy ‘well placed’. “Members noted that public sector balance sheets in Australia were strong, which allowed for the provision of continued support.”
    • July employment stronger than anticipated.
    • Forecasts continued pressure on rents. “Rental vacancy rates had risen recently, and members noted that downward pressure on rents was unlikely to dissipate in the near term in either Sydney or Melbourne.”
    • “It agreed to maintain highly accommodative settings as long as required and to continue to consider how further monetary measures could support the recovery.”
  • ANZ-Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence Index lifted 1.4% to 92.4 last week.
  • Residential property prices fell 1.8% in the June quarter vs estimates of -1% to -1.3%. The falls in residential property prices were led by the Sydney (-2.2%) and Melbourne (-2.3%) property markets. All capital cities apart from Canberra recorded falls in property prices in the June quarter.

COVID – 19 NEWS

  • The U.K. is preparing to extend a ban preventing commercial tenants from being evicted by landlords until the end of the year.
  • Texas’s positivity rate slumped to 6.71%, the lowest since June 4, after the second-largest U.S. state revamped its calculation methodology.
  • A Covid-19 vaccine may be available for “ordinary Chinese” as soon as November or early December following a Phase III trial that “went very smoothly,” the Global Times wrote.
  • Citigroup Inc. will  resume job cuts this week, joining rivals such as Wells Fargo & Co.
  • AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 vaccine trial remains on hold in the U.S. as regulators examine a serious side effect suffered by a U.K. patient.

BONDS

ASIAN NEWS

  • Chinese retail sales gained 0.5% in August from a year earlier, while industrial production rose 5.6% in the period, the National Bureau of Statistics said today.
  • In the first eight months of the year, retail sales fell 8.6% and industrial production increased 0.4%, the first time it’s risen this year. Fixed-asset investment shrank 0.3%. The surveyed unemployment rate declined to 5.6%.
  • Sony has cut its estimated PlayStation 5 production for this fiscal year by 4 million units, down to around 11 million, following production issues with its custom-designed system-on-chip.
  • Tencent has picked Singapore as its Asian hub over Hong Kong and India.

EUROPEAN AND US HEADLINES

  • European futures point to a modestly higher open.
  • Fed meeting gets underway.
  • The White House is reviewing the Oracle deal ahead of the deadline.
  • Biden calls Trump a ‘climate arsonist’. Not very nice.
  • PSA and Fiat Chrysler review terms of EUR 50bn merger.
  • Boris is seeing rebellion form Tory backbenchers over latest Brexit moves.
  • Nikola admits it rolled a new truck down a hill as it tries to counter fraud claims.
  • UBS is exploring a mega merger with its rival Credit Suisse. Early days though.

And finally…..

I bought a Bon Jovi Sat Nav…hopeless only took me half way there.

Tried a U2 one but that was worse as the Streets have no name and I still haven’t found what I am looking for…

And the Chris Rea took me on the road to hell…and the Talking Heads one took me on the road to nowhere.

The Proclaimers Sat Nav took me on a 500 Miles detour too…but at least I am on the way from misery to happiness. Ah hah.

Clarence

XXX