ASX 200 kicked off the new financial year with a soft start down 47 points to 7266 (0.65%) although some under tax loss pressure showed good solid moves today. Some pause for thought following CV19 case numbers and vaccination confusion. Banks bore the brunt of the sell off with the Big Bank Basket down $178.42 and other financials sliding, MQG down 1.1%, IAG off 2.9% and PNI taking a 4.5% dive. First day for PXA with a 1713c IPO price and a 0.1% gain coming back from a loss early. Industrials treading slightly under water, ALL down 2.3%, WOW slipping 1.6%. REH down 3.0% and healthcare led lower by a 0.6% fall in CSL, vaccine woes perhaps. Miners were mixed but gold miners saw some bargain hunters get out their cheque books, SBM up 5.6%, RRL up 8.0% and NST rising 3.7%. Energy stocks going now here doing nothing ahead of OPEC plus today. Tech mixed, NXL bounced hard on new year buying up 5.4%, APT up 0.7%, XRO down 0.8% and the All Tech Index flat. In corporate news, IGO is added 4.2% on management changes. SEK down 0.8% as it appoints ex CBA chief Ian Narev as CEO. TLS unchanged despite an upgrade from Morgans. LLC down 2.8% warns on profits on the back of COVID interruptions. COE down 1.9% as it downgrades production guidance. WOR down 4.4%, it was awarded two wind farm contracts from Pacific Hydro. REA off 0.5% as it completes the Mortgage Choice acquisition. On the economic front, a trade surplus of $9.68bn was recorded in May. 10-year yields slightly easier at 1.52%. Asian markets weaker with Japan down 0.22% though China not wanting to rain on its parade up 0.3%.

Today’s Highlights

  • ASX 200 down 47 points (0.65%) to 7266. Closes on lows.
  • High 7317 Low 7266.
  • The MSCI All Country World Index returned 37.4%. ASX 200 27.8% including divs.
  • Dow futures up 65.
  • Big Bank Basket slips to $178.42.
  • All Tech Index flat
  • Australian Gold better at $2369
  • 10-year yield easier at 1.52%
  • AUD drifts to 74.80c
  • Bitcoin slips to US$34189
  • Asian markets weaker with Japan down 0.22% though China not wanting to rain on its parade up 0.3%.

STOCKS

  • AXE +8.95% POS +17.98% game on.
  • RRL +8.05% SBM +5.57% gold dogs bounce.
  • PXA +0.12% IPO debut greeted with platform outage.
  • LLC -2.79% new CEO goes for slightly cleaner slate.
  • NXL +5.43% new year bounce.
  • EML +4.31% happy new year.
  • CTT +4.92% expansions into $2000 children’s outfits.
  • ASM -6.54% profit taking.
  • CHN -5.93% LTR -4.71% taking a breath.
  • CKF -4.36% sell off continues.
  • MMM -5.70% credit facility.
  • MHH +%5.75% converting to an ETF.
  • PBH -3.83% slip sliding away.
  • RF1 -5.64% distribution now 95c not 75c.
  • CEL +36.36% Bonanza grades at Hualilan gold project.
  • PDI +16.88% 44m@8g/t Au.
  • RHP +20.10% takeover from Crayon in Norway at 250c.
  • SPT +19.23% change in substantial holding.
  • 88E +19.23% full repayment of debt.
  • VTH +0.38% end game – court approval of scheme.
  • IPO of the Day: Australian Rare Earths (AR3) +83.33%. Much better than PXA. $12m IPO at 20c. EV of $21m. Needs a CEO/MD though.
  • Speculative Stock of the Day: Propel (PHL) +42.86% first BNPL product partnership with Z1P. Good volume too.
  • Biggest Winners: RRL, IAP, AMI, RSG, MHH, SBM, NXL, BRN and WGX.
  • Biggest Losers: ASM, CHN, CCX, INR, MMM, RF1, PNI, ILU and VGL.

TODAY

  • IGO (IGO) +4.19% Appoints Michael Nossal as Chair. Peter Bilbe, who announced his intention to retire in September 2020, will remain as a Non-Executive Director until his formal retirement at the Annual General Meeting planned in November 2021.
  • Abacus Property Group (ABP) +0.95% To acquire 33% interest in 314-336 Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC for $135.2m.Simultaneously, Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (CLW) will acquire a 33% interest (as tenants-in-common) with the remaining third share retained by the property manager, Vicinity. The property is known as “Myer Melbourne”.
  • Resolute Mining (RSG) +6.93% Appoints Doug Warden as CFO. Warden was previously CFO at CBH Group. Doug replaces Stuart Gale from CFO duties who was recently appointed as MD and CEO.
  • Spark Infrastructure Group (SKI) 0.44% Declares first half distribution 6.25c/unit.
  • Tabcorp Holdings (TAH) -unchanged-  Strategic review outcome delayed to Friday or early next week according to newswires. Tabcorp is understood to have engaged with Entain and Apollo Global Management in the past week implying a sale of parts or all of the business could now be more likely.
  • REA Group (REA) -0.55% Completes the acquisition of Mortgage Choice.
  • SEEK (SEK) -0.84% CEO Andrew Bassat to step down, Ian Narev appointed replacement. Bassat will transition to a new role as Executive Chairman and CEO of an independent SEEK investments entity in due course. Narev was previously COO and CEO of the Asia-Pacific and Americas division of SEEK and CEO of CBA prior.

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • CoreLogic data released today showed house values in Sydney jumped another 3% last month, taking the median value to more than $1.2m. The value increased by $38,000 across the 30 days of June. Over the past six months, house values have increased by 18.5% or by more than $200,000. Over the last year, values had improved by 13.5% with housing up by 15.6%. Highest annual rate since 2004.

Job vacancies 57% higher than Pre-Covid levels according to ABS..

  • Total job vacancies were 362,500 an increase of 23.4% from February 2021.
  • Private sector vacancies were 331,900, an increase of 24.8% from February 2021.
  • Public sector vacancies were 30,600, an increase of 10.0% from February 2021.

BOND MARKETS

CV19 NEWS

  • Funny these days I have to search for news on the CV19 pandemic on the Bloomberg site. So US and Euro centric. Anyone would think the problem is solved.
  • 24,000 new cases yesterday in UK.
  • Vaccine Tracker: 3.05bn doses in 180 countries.42.9m a day. In Australia, 112,187 average doses a day. 9 months to 75% Vax levels.

ASIAN NEWS

  • Big speech today from President Xi Jinping. Talked about  China’s quest to gain control of Taiwan a “historic mission” and warning the country’s adversaries to avoid standing in the way of his government.
  • Xi called the move to unify China and Taiwan “an unshakable commitment” and vowed “resolute action to utterly defeat any attempt toward ‘Taiwan independence.’
  • Japanese business sentiment hit a 2-year high.
  • HK’s 24-year anniversary handback from UK celebrations face zero protests. Not allowed anymore. Progress indeed.

US AND EUROPEAN HEADLINES

  • Solid opening in store for European markets.
  • Nissan to confirm a battery Gigafactory in the UK.
  • US and Japan conducting war games in South China Sea.
  • Economists now predicting at least two rate rises by end of 2023.
  • UK Financials seek exemption from global tax rules.

And finally…

”Women really know how to hold a grudge.

My wife asked me to pass her a lip balm. And by mistake, I gave her a tube of Super Glue.

It’s been a month now and she’s still not speaking to me!

I just like to sleep without clothes on. The air-hostess could have been a bit more understanding.

Today, my son came to me and gave me a hug – out of the blue. I was very pleasantly surprised – that is, until I heard him tell his father, “You’re right. She did gain weight.”

Read more funny jokes: https://short-funny.com/hilarious-jokes.php#ixzz6zLYzEkYb

Clarence

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