The ASX falls 156 points to 7248 (2.10%) as Evergrande woes boil over in Asia. Index closes on lows marking the worst session in seven months. Dow futures down 360 points. Singapore iron ore prices touched US$90 briefly with China closed today. The big miners under extreme pressure, BHP off 4.2%, FMG down 3.7% and RIO falling 3.6%. Other resources followed suit as BSL tumbled 5.0%, S32 down 2.1% and LYC down 11.8%. Uranium, lithium and other hot pockets saw a big sell-off as profit-taking and nerves kicked in. PDN down 16.50% and BOE off 17.4%. The Big Bank Basket was hit to $180.59 with MQG down 3.6% and QBE dipping 2.9%. Healthcare was a little more resilient with CSL down only 0.6% and RMD losing 2.6%. Industrials were under pressure with SYD down 1.5% after traffic numbers, REH off 3.6% and TCL in a trading halt as the company looks to shore up capital raise to buy WestConnex. Energy stocks fall and oil eases back in Asian trade. Tech under pressure too, APT down 2.2% and the All-Tech Index down 2.5%. In corporate news, Brookfield bid $9.6bn for AST with the stock rising 19.2%. All eyes on Evergrande and central banks this week.

MAJOR MOVERS:

  • Winners: LEP, AST, HPI, CTT, NVX, EDV, NUF
  • Losers: BOE, PDN, ERA, CIA, ABR, LYC, CXO, PLS
  • Positive sectors: None.
  • Negative sectors: Iron ore miners and banks hard hit. Tech falls hard.
  • Hi 7381 Lo 7234.
  • Singapore Iron ore touches US$90 briefly before bounce.
  • Evergrande down 14.5% in Asian trade.
  • Big Bank Basket: Falls heavily to $180.59.
  • All-Tech index: Down 2.10% APT down 2.17%
  • Gold: Firms slightly to AUD2417.
  • Bitcoin: Falls to US$45722.
  • Aussie Dollar: Weaker at 72.33c.
  • 10-YEAR YIELD: Steady at 1.30%.
  • Asian Markets: Tokyo closed. Hong Kong down 3.34% on Evergrande woes. China closed for holiday.
  • US Futures: Dow futures down 360 points, NASDAQ futures down 110 points.

STOCKS ON THE MOVE

  • NVX +2.67% plenty of bulls around still.
  • RED steady- bucking the trend.
  • EDV +2.17% defensive buying.
  • LEP +20.85% acquisition of 50% of ALE Property.
  • BOE -17.39% PDN -16.50% uranium under pressure.
  • GRR -8.91% CIA -12.33% iron ore falls.
  • PLS -9.61% lithium stocks on the nose.
  • FEX -22.03% ex-dividend. And some.
  • VMY -20.75% TOE -15.56% LOT -14.52% mid-tier uranium stocks under pressure.
  • LRK +6.43% good day to start drinking.
  • RHY +3.11% starting to gather attention.
  • AXE -3.12% promising start but no new news.
  • BSL -5.00% investor day with US expansion in focus.
  • ABY +2.04% Jarden ups PT.
  • HT1 -4.24% Soprano has terminated sales discussions.
  • AST +19.19% Brookfield bid at 250c.
  • Speculative Stock of the Day: 92E +18.24% Uranium discovery at Gemini project. Basement hosted starting at 190m vertically below surface.

IN THE NEWS

  • Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (CLW) & super fund Host Plus to acquire hotel & pub operator ALE Group (LEP) for $1.18Bn or 568c. LEP up 20.85%. Hotel Property Investments (HPI) up 3.0% in support.
  • Sydney Airport (SYD) August traffic down 98.6% vs August 2019. Domestic traffic down 98.9% with international down 98.1% vs a year ago.
  • AusNet Services (AST) receives a non-binding 250c offer from Brookfield. The bid sits at a 26.3% premium to Friday’s closing price. AST considers the offer is in the best interests of shareholders.
  • Transurban (TCL) – Buys remaining 49% of WestConnex from NSW government for around $11.1bn and launches a $4.22bn capital raising.

ECONOMIC NEWS/ BOND MARKETS

  • VIC 567 cases. Highest case numbers this year. Melbourne Mayor describes the reaction to the Roadmap as “Despondency” although the golfers were happy. NSW 935 cases. Victoria is catching up.
  • Singapore recorded more than 1,000 infections Saturday for the second straight day, now at a 17-month high.
  • Belgium will gradually phase out support for businesses affected by the pandemic by year-end.
  • Vaccine Tracker: 5.95bn doses in 184 countries. 33.1m a day.

ASIAN MARKETS

  • Chinese financial markets will be closed September 18-21st.
  • Evergrande woes are spreading as concerns about property markets roil Asian markets. The Hang Seng Property Index tumbled by as much as 5.9% and Ping An fell 7.3% in HK. deadline for interest payments loom. 
  • Taiwan is taking China to the WTO over fruit.
  • Iron ore prices in Singapore fell to US$90 at one stage before bouncing back. Mills in Jiangsu province have received instructions to reduce production as part of broader curbs on industrial activity aimed at lowering power usage and helping air quality.

US AND EUROPEAN NEWS

  • Janet Yellen is calling for the’ Debt Ceiling’ to be raised to avoid catastrophe. Says it could permanently damage US standing. Der.
  • 6 days until Germany heads to the Polls. SPD in the lead with 26%. Putin wins the Russian elections. 110% of the vote.
  • Europe seeing a huge spike in gas prices. Italy warns of a 40% jump in gas bills.
  • Fertiliser prices hitting highs in US not seen since 2012 after New Orleans and the most common phosphate fertiliser DAP is now more expensive than 2008. A United Nations measure of global food prices is near the highest in a decade.
  • France has cancelled a defence summit with UK as nuclear fallout continues.

And finally….

An Irish Vasectomy

After having their 11th child, an Irish couple decided that that was enough, as they couldn’t afford a larger bed.
So the husband went to his doctor and told him that he and his wife didn’t want to have any more children …..
 
The doctor told him there was a procedure called a vasectomy that would fix the problem but it was expensive.
A less costly alternative was to go home, get a large firecracker, light it, put it in a beer can, then hold the can up to his ear and count to 10.
 
The husband said to the doctor, “B’Jayzus, I may not be the smartest fella in the world, but I don’t see how putting a firework in a beer can next to me ear is going to help me with me problem.”
 
“Trust me, it will do the job”, said the doctor.
 
So the man went home, lit a cracker and put it in a beer can. He held the can up to his ear and began to count:
 
“1, 2, 3, 4, 5…..” at which point he paused, placed the beer can between his legs so he could continue counting on his other hand.

This procedure also works in New Zealand, Oklahoma City, Tasmania, parts of Liverpool, Southern USA, and around Gympie, QLD.

Clarence

XXXX