ASX 200 drops 6 points to 7301 after recovering morning losses as NZ opens travel bubble from July 5^th. Positive sign. Dow futures down 13. A decent fight back after some serious early losses on thin volumes. Banks bore the brunt of the early sell off with the Big Bank Basket rallying into the close after an NSW business stimulus package closing at $180.69. NAB was the only loser down 0.1%. Insurers back under pressure ked lower by QBE down 1.4% and MQG up 0.4%. Miners sagged as WA and QLD went into a short lockdown, BHP off 0.7% and RIO down 0.8%. Gold miners continue to find foes and feel the pressure with NCM down 0.6% and NST off 1.2%. Energy stocks back on the back foot back down with STO off 0.5% and WPL down 1.1%. Industrials were mixed. Plenty of REITs going ex with TCL off 1.7% ex dividend too. Tech had a quieter day with APT up 1.0% and Z1P stabilising up 0.5%. Travel stocks mixed with QAN up 0.2%, FLT unchanged and WEB down 1.7% The All–Tech Index rallied 0.6% In corporate news, KMD is off 4.0% as it points to a $13m earnings hit from lockdowns. MPL adding 0.3% announces return ~$105m in COVID-19 savings to customers through premium relief. GMA slipping 14% as CBA reviews its lenders mortgage insurance deal. CKF down 5.7% on its full-year results. 10-year yield drops at 1.53%. The ANZ-Roy Morgan weekly consumer confidence index had a muted repose to renewed restrictions around the country with a fall of only 0.2%. Most of the survey was completed before the lockdown news was released. Asian markets ease with Japan down 0.9% and China off 1.2%.

Today’s Highlights

• ASX 200 falls 6 to 7301. Quiet trade but good comeback.
• High 7305 Low 7241. Case numbers in focus.
• Dow futures down 13.
• Big Bank Basket firms to $180.69.
• All Tech Index up 0.6%
• Australian Gold steady at $2352
• 10-year yield drops at 1.53%
• AUD drifts to 75.61c
• Bitcoin steady at US$34688
• Asian markets ease with Japan down 0.9% and China off 1.2%.

STOCKS

• MMM +5.67% CV19 winner.
• NXL +4.96% bargain hunters.
• MTS +5.69% broker upgrades.
• ASM +7.32% going nuts.
• GMA -15.75% CBA LMI review.
• BRN -7.62% Founder sells down.
• BET -4.35% drifting lower.
• CKF -5.67% not so finger lickin’ good update.
• TPW -4.43% profit taking.
• YOJ +20.00% kicking on again from yesterday’s good move.
• 4DX +8.12% trials commence.
• FYI +6.80% awarded National Major Project status.
• EM2 +14.81% bottom found?
• LGP +11.39% cannabis back on the menu.
• TGG +3.95% WGB +0.39% proposed merger.
• CVN +6.25% Dorado plan.
• AMP -1.71% warns investors of ‘conflicted captive” plenary.
• ABY -1.54% calls itself a part media company, part makeup.
• APT +0.98% UBS increases PT to $42 from $37.
• LNK +0.60% will  keep 42.8% of PEXA which lists Thursday.
• Speculative Stock of the Day:  Very little moving and shaking with any volumes.
• Biggest Winners: ASM, OCL, PLL, MTS, MMM, FCL, NXL and 360.
• Biggest Losers: GMA, OMH, BRN, IMU, CKF, ERA and URW.

TODAY

• Genworth Mortgage Australia (GMA) -15.75% Provides update on Commonwealth Bank contract in regards to LMI exclusivity. Commonwealth Bank of Australia intends to issue a Request for Proposal relating to its Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) requirements following the expiry of the current agreement with Genworth on 31-Dec-22. Genworth has provided LMI services to CBA for over 50 years including an exclusive arrangement since 2006, which represented approximately 57% of Genworth’s Gross Written Premium (GWP) in FY2020.
• Santos (STO) -0.55% Launch of Front-End Engineering and Design for Dorado project. Dorado is expected to have an initial gross oil production rate of between 75,000-100,000 barrels per day of high-quality crude that is expected to earn a premium to regional pricing benchmarks.
• Medibank Private (MPL) +0.32% Announces return ~$105m in COVID-19 savings to customers through premium relief. This marks the next phase in the companies broader COVID-19 financial support package and give-back program. ~2 million policies will be eligible, and the majority of customers should expect to receive the premium relief by the end of September 2021. COVID-19 is not expected to impact Medibank’s operating earnings for the financial year ending 30 June 2021.
• Collins Foods (CKF) –5.67% Full-year underlying profit from continuing operations (pre AASB 16) $56.9m vs consensus $52.5m. Revenue $1.07bn vs consensus $1.07bn. Final dividend 12.5cps. KFC Australia to build a minimum of 66 new restaurants by 2028. Europe is currently re-opening from the hard lockdowns of FY21 and sales recovery has been promising as restrictions have eased. Taco Bell is on track for accelerated development in FY22, supported by ongoing consumer demand for Mexican in Australia, and a refined marketing approach. Nine to 12 new Taco Bell restaurants in the pipeline in the year ahead, the company remains committed to its strategy of achieving scale within three to five years. Appoints CEO Drew O’Malley to the board as Managing Director.
• Kathmandu (KMD) –4.05% On the back of renewed lockdowns has provided a sales update, 40 stores affected in NSW & 26 in WA. 62 in VIC were impacted earlier in June. FY21 sales are now expected to be below original expectations of ~NZ$930m.

ECONOMIC NEWS

• The ANZ-Roy Morgan weekly consumer confidence index had a muted repose to renewed restrictions around the country with a fall of only 0.2%. ANZ economists said the index did not fully capture the impact of all the various restrictions and lockdowns imposed across the states, as most of the survey was completed before the news was released.

BOND MARKETS

CV19 NEWS

• Vaccine Tracker: 2.97bn doses in 180 countries. 45.6m a day. Here we saw 111,989 doses a day on average. 9 months now to cover 75% of the population.
• Seychelles the vaccine winner.

• Darwin follows Perth into lockdown. Half of Australian population now in lockdown. Barnaby Joyce fined for not wearing a mask. Dobbed in his electorate.
• Daily infections in India fell to the lowest since March.
• UK reported the most new cases since January that were fueled by the delta variant first identified in India.
• PM Scott Morrison says any changes to mandatory quarantine won’t begin until at least next year. The government says they are unlikely to reopen the international borders until the middle of next year, which will be after the federal election.

ASIAN NEWS

• China marks 100 years of the Communist Party. President Xi Jinping said the Communist Party needed new heroes to carry it into its second century. 29 medals were awarded to people from a variety of backgrounds.

US AND EUROPEAN HEADLINES

• Slightly negative opening in store for the European markets.
• Dingdong cuts IPO offering price and amount to raised.
• Duolingo has filed for an US IPO.
• Facebook rally has seen it capitalised at over US$1 trillion. US judge dismisses case. For now.
• European Finance Summit continues in Matera, Italy. Bundesbank boss calls on ECB to scale back bond purchases.
• US cannot afford housing market ‘boom and bust’, warns Fed official
• Oil slipping ahead of OPEC plus meeting.

• New UK Health secretary says the country must learn to live with the pandemic.
• US banks to pay around US$2bn extra in quarterly dividends.

And finally….

My wife and I were out to dinner and the waitress started flirting with me. “She obviously has COVID,” my wife said. “Why?” I asked. My wife replied with a sneer, “Because she has no taste.”

I heard Sony’s coming out with a new console during the pandemic. It’s called the Plaguestation 5.

Give a man a plane ticket and he flies for the day. Push him out of the plane at 3,000 feet and he’ll fly for the rest of his life.

I was in Russia listening to a stand-up comedian making fun of Putin. The jokes weren’t that good, but I liked the execution.

My wife of 60 years told me, “Let’s go upstairs and make love.” I just sighed and said, “Choose one, I can’t do both.”

What do my dad and Nemo have in common? They both can’t be found.

A doctor walks into a room with a dying patient and tells him, “I’m sorry, but you only have ten left.” The patient asks him, “Ten what, Doc? Hours? Days? Weeks?” The doctor calmly looks at him and says, “Nine.”

I wasn’t close to my father when he died. Which is lucky because he stepped on a landmine.

Clarence

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