ASX 200 clawed its way back from early losses to close only down 4 at 6995 (-0.05%). A good week for the ASX with the index rising 2.4%. Dow futures up 19. A quiet and mixed end to the week as the vaccine news weighed on the travel sector with WEB down 2.5% and FLT off 2.7%. Elsewhere, CSL felt some fall out from the AstraZeneca news, falling 1.0%. Banks were mixed with the Big Bank Basket better at $167.80. MQG had a good day rising 0.9% and MFG fell 1.9% on its FUM rising to $106bn. Miners fell back as iron ore jubilation subsided, BHP lost 0.3% and FMG down 0.1%. Energy stocks under pressure but a small renaissance in gold stocks, NCM up 1.1% and NST up 0.8% with some smaller miners like SLR doing well up 6.1%. Industrials mixed, KGN had a squeezy day as some bargain hunting around, rising 5.9% and APT put away its US acquisition and rose 1.2%. WOW slipped 0.7% as news broke that COL would be heading down, down with prices. Nothing significant in corporate news, with the RBA releasing news on how stable the financial markets are. 10-year yields steady at 1.73%. Asian markets mixed with Japan up 0.39% and China off 1.09%. 

Today’s Highlights

  • ASX 200 down 4 to 6995. Below average volume.
  • High 6998 Low 6965. Tight range. 
  • ASX 200 up 2.43% for the week.
  • Big Bank Basket better at $167.80.
  • All Tech Index up 1.0%.
  • Dow futures up 19.
  • Gold rallies to $2296.
  • 10-year yield steady at 1.73%.
  • AUD falls to 76.07c.
  • Bitcoin rises to US$58151.
  • Asian markets mixed with Japan up 0.39% and China off 1.09%

STOCKS

  • EOS -0.19% space laser fails to excite.
  • GGG +23.60% positive outlook statement on Greenland election.
  • AUT +9.89% change of director’s interest.
  • POS +13.33% catch up.
  • KGN +5.89% bargain hunters.
  • MFG -1.94% FUM hits $106bn.
  • WEB -2.53% FLT -2.69% slipping as vaccine timeline slips.
  • STX +9.86% project update.
  • AIZ +2.11% delays capital raising.
  • MMM +7.52% typical after I talked it down on TV.
  • SLR +6.14% WGX +5.96% small golds rallying.
  • PRN +1.80% trousers $80m from African sales.
  • SPL -4.65% competitors emerging.
  • 88E -10.00% dead cat bounce over.
  • APT +1.22% completes US acquisition.
  • BLD +0.34% Kerry Stokes has crept up to 23%.
  • RIO -0.33% AGM tonight.
  • TCL +0.22% QLD Euro note update.
  • Speculative Stock of the Day: Jindalee Resources (JRL) +86.96% Strong volume too. Announcement late yesterday with McDermitt as the largest lithium deposit in the USA. Combined Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource Inventory of 1.43 Billion tonnes at 1,320ppm Li for total of 10.1 Million tonnes Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) at 1,000 ppm cut-off grade (COG).
  • Biggest Winners: NTO, IMU, STX, REG, MMM, SLR and WGX.
  • Biggest Losers: SPL, LYC, MTS, AGF, JMS, A2M. and CDA.

TODAY

  • Westpac Banking (WBC) +0.20% May be reconsidering the sale of auto loans portfolio. Newswires note the bank has altered the structure of the sale, and in turn reduced the number of loans being sold to $2bn from the previously reported $11bn.
  • Afterpay (APT) +1.22% Completes US ESOP tender offer increasing Afterpay US ownership to ~91%.
  • Magellan Financial Group (MFG) -1.94% Total FUM at the end of March $106.05bn vs month-ago $100.61bn. Experienced net inflows of $206m, which included net retail inflows of $15m and net institutional outflows of $221m.

ECONOMIC NEWS

RBA Financial Stability Report

  • Financial systems in Australia and internationally have been resilient to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Banks have cushioned the economic impact of the pandemic and have supported the recovery through loan repayment deferrals and new lending.
  • If incomes remain below pre-pandemic levels, as government support is wound back, it increases the likelihood that some borrowers exhaust their financial buffers and ultimately default.
  • Asset prices globally have been rising and are at high levels underpinned by low interest rates. Asset prices rising beyond fundamental values, rapid growth in borrowing and weaker lending standards would be a risk to financial stability.
  • Over the past six months there have been several high-profile cyber-attacks worldwide. While financial institutions were not specifically targeted, some were impacted by these attacks.

CV19 NEWS

  • Australia secures another 20m Pfizer jabs but not until 4Q.
  • China’s target to vaccinate 560m people, 40% of its population by the end of June doesn’t look likely as supply issues continue.
  • Japan is set to reimpose curbs in Tokyo, Kyoto and Okinawa.
  • New daily cases surged to a record in India and Brazil.
  • Holland will not use AstraZeneca for under 60s.
  • Vaccine Tracker: 726m doses in 154 countries. 17m doses a day. In US 175m at 3.04m a day.
  • The wealthiest countries are getting the lion’s share of the vaccines so far. The world’s least wealthy continent, Africa, is also the least vaccinated. Of its 54 countries, only three have have inoculated more than 1% of their populations. More than 20 countries aren’t even on the board yet.

BOND MARKETS

ASIAN NEWS

  • Toshiba reinstates chairman to talk with Singapore-based fund Effissimo which has been increasing pressure on Toshiba in recent months.
  • Inflation is coming, at least from China. The producer price index rose 4.4% in March from a year earlier after gaining 1.7% in February.
  • The consumer price index increased 0.4% from a year earlier after falling for two straight months.

US AND EUROPEAN HEADLINES

  • European markets opening slightly higher.
  • Jerome Powell pledged to get the U.S. back to a “great economy”. Noting that there were 9 or 10m fewer Americans now working compared with February 2020, before the pandemic struck, Powell said that the central bank ‘would not leave them behind’ in a virtual conference on an IMF panel discussion.
  • US Senate introduces bill to curb Chinese advancement.
  • Riots are back in Northern Ireland as Brexit sell out starts to bite. Very 70s.
  • SPAC deals drying up as investors rein in valuations.
  • BlackRock launches worlds biggest ETF with US$1.25bn in its Carbon Transition Readiness Fund.
  • Florida governor will sue to restart the cruise industry.
  • Unaccompanied children at US-Mexico border hit record high.
  • Ursula von der Leyen has a new favourite song on her playlist. ‘I’m still standing’.

And finally….

A child asked his father, “How were people born?”

So his father said, “Adam and Eve made babies, then their babies became adults and made babies, and so on.”

The child then went to his mother, asked her the same question and she told him, “We were monkeys then we evolved to become like we are now.”

The child ran back to his father and said, “You lied to me!” His father replied, “No, your mom was talking about her side of the family.”

Still one of the best….

A woman gets on a bus with her baby. The bus driver says, “That’s the ugliest baby that I’ve ever seen. Ugh!”

The woman goes to the rear of the bus and sits down, fuming. She says to a man next to her, “The driver just insulted me!”

The man says, “You go right up there and tell him off – go ahead, I’ll hold your monkey for you.”

Clarence

XXX

Have a good weekend.