ASX 200 goes to hell and back. At one point down 110 and then rallies to close down 20 points to 6997 (0.29%). Dow futures down 36. From the open, the market fell across the board, even iron ore miners despite price rises to near $190. BHP dropped 0.5% on its production report, RIO off 0.1% and FMG unchanged. LYC continued its fall down 5.3% following its production report yesterday and coal stocks struggled led by CRN down 11.6% and WHC off 5.9%. After hitting the lows around lunchtime, buyers stepped back in and bought the dip. CSL was green all day up 1.52% and TCL rose 1.1% with WES up 0.7%. Big Banks fell to $167.78 with MQG down 0.1%, CBA bucking the downturn up 0.5% and CGF continuing to plumb the depths, falling another 5.6%. Tech stocks in the naughty corner APT dropped 2.7% and XRO fell 1.4% with the All-Tech Index down 1.7%. In corporate news, NXL kicked its shareholders in the teeth with a guide to a prospectus miss, falling 15.4%. SOL down 2.2% as it trades ex-dividend. SPT down 5.3% on its quarterly update. CTD up 3.5% after breaking even in March. MKL down 6.7% on its market debut. Retail trade rose 1.4% in March. 10-year bond yields dropped to 1.72% with Asia mixed, Japan dropping 1.98% on CV19 news, and China up 0.18%.

Today’s Highlights

  • ASX 200 down 20 points to 6997. Flesh wound
  • High 7000 Low 6905. Good bounce from lows. Decent volumes too.
  • Big Bank Basket lower at $167.78
  • All Tech Index down 1.7%
  • European futures pointing to flat start
  • Dow futures down 36
  • Australian gold higher at $2312
  • 10-year yield falls to 1.72%
  • AUD drifts to 77.12c
  • Bitcoin steady at US$55424
  • Asia mixed, Japan dropping 1.98% on CV19 news, and China up 0.18%

STOCKS

  • SYR +8.96% quarterly production.
  • DRR +1.95% royalty update.
  • CIA +3.26% iron ore price rise.
  • NXL -15.38% misses prospectus.
  • TPW -10.63% broker downgrades.
  • CRN -11.61% broker downgrades.
  • CGF -5.58% brokers negative after update.
  • JMS -4.55% profit taking.
  • APX -4.52% tech sell off continues.
  • GGG -19.05% engaging with new government.
  • 88E -9.09% sell off continues.
  • ALG +8.11% trading update.
  • ZNO +8.07% picks up as CV19 reappears.
  • PRL -10.42% profit taking.
  • MNY unchanged investor day.
  • PH2 +19.57% hydrogen in fashion in Canberra.
  • FGR +9.80% admitted to OTCQB in USA.
  • IPO of the Day: Mighty Kings (MKL) -6.67%
  • Speculative Stock of the Day: QEM +31.11% another solid day building on yesterdays rise.
  • Biggest Winners: ADO, SYR, IMU, IEL, SLK, GMA and INR.
  • Biggest Losers: NXL, CRN, TPW, WHC, CGF, LYC and NVX.

TODAY

  • Yancoal Australia (YAL) -0.88% Q1 saleable coal production 8.7Mt vs year-ago 9.7Mt. Run of mine coal production 14.3Mt vs year-ago 16.0Mt. Mine production sales 8.6Mt vs year-ago 9.1Mt. FY21 guidance is unchanged: Attributable saleable coal production of around 39Mt. Cash operating costs (exc. royalties) of $60-62/tonne. Attributable capital expenditure of $360-380m.
  • Nuix (NXL) -15.38 Revises FY21 guidance; revenue $180-185m vs prospectus $193.5m. FY21 guidance: ACV $168-177m vs prospectus $199.6m. EBITDA $64.6-66.6m vs prospectus $63.6m. April update: During the month a significant and larger than expected number of customers including its largest, elected to transition from module-based subscription licenses to consumption and SaaS license models, resulting in a shift in both revenue and ACV profiles.
  • BHP Group (BHP) -0.51% Reports Q3 production; petroleum production 25.4 MMboe, +1% vs year-ago. March quarter production: Copper 391.4kt, -8% vs year-ago. Iron ore 59.9Mt, flat vs year-ago. Met Coal 9.6Mt, +4% vs year-ago. Energy Coal 4.8Mt, -17% vs year-ago. FY guidance: Production guidance for the 2021 financial year remains unchanged for petroleum and iron ore. Copper guidance increased to 1,535 -1,660 kt vs prior 1,510-1,645 kt. Metallurgical coal reduced to between 39-41 Mt vs prior 40-44Mt. Energy coal guidance reduced to between 18-20 Mt vs prior 21-23Mt. Full year unit cost guidance remains unchanged for Petroleum and WAIO. Unit costs for Escondida have been lowered to be between $0.95 and $1.10 per pound. Unit costs for Queensland Coal have been increased to be between $74 and $78per tonne.
  • Telix Pharmaceuticals (TLX) +1.28% Advises that its Japanese renal cancer imaging trial has met its study objectives. The Phase I component of the Company’s Phase I/II ‘ZIRDAC-JP’ clinical study of its renal cancer imaging product has reported results and met the study objectives, demonstrating safety and tolerability of TLX250-CDx (89Zr-girentuximab) in Japanese patients.
  • American Pacific Borates (ABR) +3.50% Create advisory board to complete listing in US.
  • PointsBet Holdings (PBH) -2.16% Completes acquisition of Banach Technologies.
  • Aurizon Holdings (AZI) +0.52% Reports Q3 above rail volumes 60.7Mt vs year-ago 63.3Mt; FY21 guidance for Coal volume remains at 200-210mt. March quarter: Coal volumes (mt) 48.5 vs year-ago 51.8. Coal NTK (bn) 11.5 vs year-ago 12.2 .Bulk volumes (mt) 12.1 vs year-ago 11.5.
  • Northern Star Resources (NST) -3.69% Reports Q3 gold sold 368.3koz at an AISC of $1,598/oz; on track to meet FY guidance. Q3 production: Group all-in cost (AIC) of $1,952/oz, after significant investment for sector leading production growth. Operating cashflow: Underlying free cash flow of $97m. Cash and bullion of $696m at 31-Mar-21. Confirms FY21 pro-forma production guidance: Planned production for June quarter puts the company on track to meet FY21 pro-forma production guidance of 1.5-1.7m ounces at AISC of $1,370-1,470/oz (Australian Operations) and $1,200-1,400/oz (Pogo Operations). Optimisation work for the merger with Saracen is well-advanced to lift the production profile to the highest-margin ounces and deliver an estimated $1.5-2.0bn of NPV (pre-tax, net of stamp duty) over the next 10 years.
  • Atlas Arteria (ALX) +0.34% Reports Q1 weighted average toll revenue -9.0% vs year-ago. Q1 weighted average traffic -12.4% vs year-ago. COVID related movement restrictions have affected both periods of traffic. Only one month of traffic was impacted in Q1 2020 in what was otherwise a strong traffic period, compared with all three months of this recent quarter. The ongoing government-imposed movement restrictions in France and the US continue to be less stringent as compared with those in place during the height of the pandemic in March / April 2020. In light of the experience following prior lock downs, look forward to improvements in traffic performance as restrictions ease and vaccines are rolled out.
  • Santos (STO) -1.14% Enters new gas supply agreement with Rio Tinto. Under the agreement, Santos will supply up to 15 PJs of natural gas to Rio Tinto commencing in late 2021.
  • Regis Resources (RRL) – Reports ore reserves to 4.0Moz vs prior 3.6Moz. Group Ore Reserves increased by 11% from 3.6M ounces to 4.0M ounces (20% increase after accounting for mining depletion). Group Mineral Resources increased by 5% from 7.7M ounces to 8.1M ounces (increased by 9% after accounting for mining depletion.

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • Retail trade rose 1.4% ($423.9m) from February 2021 to March 2021.
  • The March Quarter 2021 will be relatively unchanged compared to the December quarter 2020, in seasonally adjusted current price terms.

CV19 NEWS

  • Vaccine Tracker: 925m doses at 15.9m doses a day in 155 countries. 6% of the global population.  In the US 213m doses at 3.03m a day.

BOND MARKETS

ASIAN NEWS

  • The percentage of the population fully vaccinated stood at just 1.3% in India, 0.6% in Japan and 2.3% in Indonesia as of Tuesday.
  • In Japan, Osaka and Tokyo moved closer to states of emergency this week. Olympics must be in doubt again.
  • Tesla is coming under increased pressure in China on its behaviour and attitudes. This follows an angry protester who climbed on one of its display vehicles shouting that her car’s brakes had lost control.
  • Xi agrees to take part in Biden’s Climate Summit.

US AND EUROPEAN HEADLINES

  • Euro markets set for flat start.
  • European Football League now DOA.
  • Derek Chauvin convicted of murder in US.
  • Netflix subscribers fall short of forecasts. The first quarter of 2020 was the strongest in its history, reeling in 15.8 million new customers. Netflix added 3.98m subscribers in the first quarter, compared with an average analyst estimate of 6.29m and its own forecast of 6m.
  • Putin to give State of the Nation address today.

And finally…send more jokes…henry@marcustoday.com.au

Clarence

XXX