The ASX 200 fell hard today down 109 points to 7276 (1.5%). Broad-based losses with only energy stocks bucking the trend. The banks succumbed to pressure eventually and 10-year yields rose again to 1.46%. The Big Bank Basket fell modestly to $184.42 (0.45%) cushioned to some extent by the bond yields. Other financials in the doghouse with ASX particularly hard hit down 2.8%. Insurers dropped too and MFG fell 3.3%. Industrials were also in the sellers’ sights with WOW down 1.9%, REA off 2.8% on possible lending reforms from the Treasurer, WES down 2.2% and TCL falling 2.0% as a bond proxy. Travel stocks mixed but spared the sword on a reopening plan for NSW. FLT up 1.2% and WEB off 0.5%. REITs slipped led lower by GMG off 4.2% and tech stocks came in for a battering with APT falling 1.8%, XRO down 6.4% and the All–Tech Index down 2.4%. In the miners, iron ore price rises were sold into as BHP fell 2.3%, FMG off 5.6% and lithium stocks were depressed, PLS losing 1.4% and ORE off 2.0%. Second liners like LTR and INR were especially hard hit. Energy stocks better, STO up 5.6% and WPL up 5.0% with some second liners gaining some attention, BPT up 10.5% after an investor presentation. In corporate news, TUA stole the show up 31.4% with some very decent numbers out of Singapore. LIS listed today with parent PPK down 0.9% and LIS itself shooting the lights out on big volumes and volatility finishing up 174.1%. On the economic front, retail sales were not as bad as some had feared with a 1.7% drop in August and ANZ Consumer confidence up 0.4% to 103.7.

MAJOR MOVERS:

• Winners: BPT, OSH, WHC, STO, ORG, NHC, WPL.
• Losers: LTR, PME, INR, EVN, SPL, XRO, KED, CHC.
• Positive sectors: Iron ore miners. Banks. Healthcare. Industrials. Tech.
• Negative sectors: Energy, Coal, oil and gas. Travel.
• Hi 7381 Lo 7276.
• Big Bank Basket: Falls to $184.42.
• All-Tech index: Down 2.4%. APT down 1.8%.
• Gold: Unchanged at AUD2398.
• Bitcoin: Falls to US$42590.
• Aussie Dollar: Rises to 73.01c.
• 10-YEAR YIELD: Higher again at 1.46%.
• Asian Markets: Japan down 0.29%. Hong Kong is up 1.89%. China up 0.71%.
• US Futures: Dow futures up 80. NASDAQ futures down 65.

STOCKS ON THE MOVE

• BPT +10.53% investor presentation
• OSH +7.06% STO +5.64% natural gas leverage.
• WHC +6.51% coal surge.
• IPL +3.89% broker upgrade on fertiliser process.
• TUA +31.37% great numbers and big subscriber growth.
• AT1 +16.39% Rapid at home testing focus.
• KCN +20.08% Thai optimism on Chatree outcome.
• BCB +6.45% coal stocks in focus.
• CVN +7.14% Dorado looks more appealing by the day.
• TCLR-22.22% leverage works both ways.
• MTC -15.57% profit takers move in.
• CYM -10.42% Nifty extensions.
• HAS -8.77% rare earths under some pressure.
• LTR -8.50% lithium stocks cooling.
• PME -6.73% breaking down.
• INR -6.62% lithium sell-off.
• BET -5.83% SG deal to Endeavour US.
• XRO -6.40% bond yields rising.
• IPO of the Day – LI-S Energy (LIS) +174.12% spin off of Lithium Sulphur battery technology from PPK in JV with Deakin University.
• Speculative Stock of the Day: Red Dirt Metals (RDT) +103.23% Mt Ida proving to be a new lithium province on historic drilling and surface rock chips. 24m @1.84% Li2O and 350ppm Ta2O5.

IN THE NEWS

• Tuas (TUA) – Market taking the results this morning very positively. Revenue grew month on month throughout the reporting period to S$34.3m, representing an increase of approximately $30m since the interim results published in October 2020. TPG Singapore, the operational business of the Group, achieved a positive EBITDA of S$0.9m for the 12 months to 31 July 2021, and has continued to track positively into the first quarter of FY22.
• Domino’s Australia & NZ CEO Nick Knight has decided to step down. David Burness (30-year Domino’s veteran & current franchisee) to take up the role.

ECONOMIC NEWS/ BOND MARKETS

• ANZ weekly consumer confidence up 0.4% to 103.7 despite lockdowns, an earthquake and protests in Melbourne. Inflation expectations are at pandemic highs, hitting levels not seen since 2014. High inflation expectations amid soft wage growth have the potential to weigh on consumer confidence if people believe the cost of living will rise.

• Retail trade fell 1.7% M/M. Down 0.7% compared to August 2020. The numbers are slightly better than the forecast of around 1.8% although the Reuters poll had a 2.5% drop in sales.

CV19 NEWS

• 76.7% of Australians have now received their first dose of a Covid vaccine.

• New South Wales on Tuesday reported 863 new local cases and seven deaths, while Victoria, the second most populous state, reported 867 cases and four deaths.

ASIAN MARKETS

• Japanese emergency measures to be lifted on 30th September as one of the last acts of PM Yoshihide Suga. The vote for the new leader of the LDP is tomorrow. Fumio Kishida, the former foreign minister and Taro Kono, the vaccine czar are considered the front runners. Seiko Noda could become the first female PM.
• Goldman Sachs cut its forecast for 2021 Chinese economic growth to 7.8% from 8.2% and for 2022 to 5.5%.
• PBoC vows to support ‘healthy property’ market. The bank continued to pump more liquidity into the system, that takes the eight-day total net funding to 710 billion yuan.

US AND EUROPEAN NEWS

• European markets are set to open slightly firmer.
• SEC Chair says unregulated crypto markets will ‘not end well’. And talking crypto, it looks like a fat finger trade on Bitfinex has resulted in transaction fees of US$24m on a deposit of US$100,000.
• One Fed official has warned of an ‘extreme market reaction’ unless the debt ceiling is raised yet again. Two Fed chiefs are ‘retiring’ after stock trading issues recently. Eric Rosengren and Robert Kaplan are both off next month.
• BHP PLC shareholders are being advised to vote against its climate plan. One activist says targets for reduced gas emissions are not based on science.
• Petrol stations in the UK are hoping that demand will return to normal in the coming days.
• Ford has a plan to invest US$11bn in a pick-up truck with its partner SK who makes the batteries.
• The horror. Jony Ive (Ex-Apple) is teaming up with Ferrari to develop an electric vehicle.

And finally…..Thanks Rainer…

I went to a pub quiz last night. I could tell it was a rough place when the first question was “What are you looking at?”

I know someone who was going to propose using a helium balloon. He popped the question.

When I was at school, I put invisible ink in the printer before printing a maths question. I couldn’t see what the problem was.

Did the tree surgeon entrance exam. First question had me stumped.

Question from my exam, “what is plagiarism?” So I copied my answer from the person beside me.

Spent hours questioning an egg. Think it’s about to crack.

Clarence

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