ASX 200 down 20 to 7417 (0.3%)

  • HIGH 7431 LOW 7379

The ASX 200 closes down 20 at 7417 (0.3%) after early losses were recouped. Nearly. Banks slid with the Big Bank Basket off to $182.95. Healthcare doing well, bouncing back from losses yesterday led by CSL up 1.4% and RMD up 1.8%. Industrials too were firm with REITs and other interest rate sensitive stocks better. Even TCL rose 0.4% despite being pregnant with news. Resources and energy stocks weakened, BHP fell 3.5%, with the exception of ‘green resource’ stocks in uranium and lithium. Crazy times and moves in both sectors, LTR up 7.5%, PLS hitting records up 8.4% and PDN up 7.9%. In corporate news, CXL rewarded the true believers with the announcement today of a US investor taking 7% of LEILAC for $24.5m, the stock rose 39.7%, MYE fell 18.1% after an incident and UWL was quietly 0.5% better after the insider trading issues were clarified. On the economic front, Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Confidence Index for September rose 2% to 106.2. China’s retail sales grew 2.5% in August, far slower than 7% expected. Industrial production growth was also slightly below expectations, up 5.3% in August versus predictions of 5.8% growth.

MAJOR MOVERS:

Winners: CXL, SYA, AX1, BOE, PLS, PDN, LTR, CRN, AVZ.

Losers: REG, AGL, GRR, CTT, PGF, HPI. LFS, PBH.

  • POSITIVE SECTORS: Uranium. Lithium. Tech. REITs.
  • NEGATIVE SECTORS: Iron ore. Banks. Energy. Insurers.
  • BIG BANK BASKET: Slips to $182.95
  • ALL -TECH INDEX Up 0.8%% APT up 1.2%
  • GOLD: Better at AUD2463.
  • BITCOIN: Rises to US$47220. Cathie Woods says it is worth US$500,000.
  • AUD:  Becalmed at 73.15c. 10-YEAR YIELD: Drops to 1.21%
  • ASIAN MARKETS: Tokyo down 1.06% Hong Kong down 1.54%. China down 0.29%. Macau gaming stocks hit hard.
  • US FUTURES: Dow futures up 28 NASDAQ up 17.

STOCKS ON THE MOVE

  • CXL +39.69% great day after selling 7% of LEILAC to US house.
  • AGL -7.44% continues to slide.
  • GRR -6.19% iron ore price falls.
  • SYA +12.90% PLS +8.41% LTR +7.46% lithium stocks charging ahead.
  • KAR +5.00% good bounce, undervalued.
  • SPL +4.20% US patent.
  • PDN +7.89% BOE +10.71% uranium stocks glowing.
  • PGF -5.66% merger with PAF.
  • HPI -4.80% returns after capital raise.
  • CTT -6.05% remains volatile.
  • IRE -3.93% EQT bid looks wobbly.
  • MYE -18.10% incident on site.
  • RXM -13.64% SPP causing weakness.
  • LOT +14.55% VMY +14.29% uranium play.
  • PSC +21.05% broker recommendation
  • RNU +26.92% Major project status awarded by Australian Government.
  • SKO +5.23% focus on Siteminder IPO.
  • RF1 +3.88% loaded with uranium stocks.
  • TGF +0.81% good resource exposure.
  • Speculative Stock of the Day: Metalhawk (MHK) +12.59% highlighted yesterday as spec of the day. More information coming through from recent massive nickel sulphide discovery.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • Canva now valued at $55bn and one of the more valuable private companies in Australia.
  • Pilbara Minerals (PLS) +8.41% Hits all time high up % on spodumeme auction result last night.
  • Macquarie veteran Matthew Rady is the new CEO of WBC’s BT Financial Group.
  • Silver Lake Resources (SLR) +0.72% has provided its outlook to the 2024 financial year, headlined by sales growth to 255,000 to 275,000 ounces per year.
  • Uniti (UWL) +0.5% the company has backed its director Vaughan Bowen after insider trading charges.
  • Calix (CXL) +39.69% Announced today that US Group Carbon Direct has invested $24.5m for a 7% stake in the companies LEILAC business. We have been long CXL for a while and very happy to see the project starting to gain traction. Carbon Direct is one of the world’s leading decarbonisation investors.
  • Starpharma (SPL) +4.20% US patent issued for DEP cabazitaxel nanoparticle.

ECONOMIC NEWS/ BOND MARKETS

  • Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has hinted that post an election there would be an inquiry into the RBA.
  • NAB expects the official Australian Bureau of Statistics retail measure to fall 2.7% on a month-on-month basis. Retail sales fell 2.7% in July. NAB warned that it remains unclear whether consumers will “snap back” to the same extent as previous re-openings as the Delta variant continues to be prevalent in the community.
  • The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Confidence Index for September rose 2pts to 106.2. The improving vaccine situation appears to be a key factor behind these results. The Index is still comfortably above the reads seen over the five years prior to the pandemic and is only 0.9% below its June print just prior to Sydney’s move into lock-down.

CV19 NEWS

  • China has advised against overseas travel in the coming months.

ASIAN MARKETS

  • Chinese retail sales grew 2.5% in August, far slower than 7% expected, as the country dealt with the worst outbreak of Covid-19 since its initial spread in early 2020.
  • Industrial production growth was also slightly below expectations, up 5.3% in August versus predictions of 5.8% growth. Restaurant & catering contracted 4.5% in August from a year ago after climbing 14.3% in the previous month, while clothing sales were down 6%.
  • North Korea has tested another missile. That is two this week.
  • The CCP is now targeting Macau. Gaming stocks crashed today after official said they were going to tighten restrictions on operators including appointing government representatives to “supervise” companies.
  • US operators in Macau were especially hard hit with Sands China down 28% at one stage. Officials said they would begin a 45-day public consultation period on Sept. 15 to discuss the legal revisions.
  • Evergrande – Home sales by value slumped 20% in August, most since Covid-19 emerged. Numerous sectors could be exposed to credit risks if Evergrande was to default, Fitch Ratings wrote in a note today They also said smaller banks and weaker developers would be hurt the most.
  • Shanghai Stock Exchange Property Index sliding as much as 2.5%.

US AND EUROPEAN NEWS

  • European futures set to open modestly higher.
  • UK Core CPI up 0.7% M/M v 0.5% forecast. 3.2% Y/Y in August. 2% in July.
  • Biden his time it seems as the POTUS suggestion for him and Xi to meet has fallen on deaf ears.
  • Apple introduces four new iPhones and refreshes the iPads others cannot reach.
  • Shortages of components continue, with one chip expert suggesting the EU will need to offer EUR20bn to up production.
  • The US envoy has rejected warnings from Green Groups that developing countries could be ‘stitched up’ at the Glasgow climate conference if they were not allowed to travel to the conference in person due to restrictions.
  • Chevron is set to spend US$10bn in a clean energy push.

And finally….

Clarence

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