Thursday 30th June – Australian Market Wrap | Beeks Downunder-Because not all financial news is boring!

ASX 200 finished the year down in the dumps, down 132 points to 6568 (-2.0%). More undressing than window dressing. Late-sell off as funds took out the trash. Sloppy across the board. Banks were hit again as the rally from the lows has been skewered, the Big Bank Basket fell 2.6% to $159.30 with CBA down 2.8% and NAB off 2.4%. MQG off 2.1%, with the ASX down 1.6%, MFG down 5.1% as wealth managers under pressure with performance fees in doubt. AEF off 5.9% with PTM falling 2.3%. Insurers lost ground too, Healthcare escaping most of the fall, CSL down 0.3% and SHL up 0.6%. Industrials hit again, WES down 1.8% with COL and WOW also under pressure with EDV giving away recent gains down 1.4%. Tech was relatively calm, for tech. WTC down 0.5%, XRO off 2.0% and the All–Tech Index off only 0.9%. Resources though a sad and sorry place, BHP dropped 3.5%, FMG down 4.7% and RIO off 3.3%. Gold miners still under the kosh. NCM down 2.8% and NST falling 2.7%. Base metals eased but not significant. Energy stocks fell, WDS down 3.0% and STO fell 1.6% with coal stocks easing back too. In corporate news, CSR fell 1.5% after announcing a buyback, PAR rose 10.3% after acceptance by local partner, LTR gave back some gains falling 5.80% on a presentation. In economic news, job vacancies were up 13.8% and CBA raised mortgage rates on fixed-rate loans. Asian markets were mixed with China still pushing ahead on reopening hopes. 10-year yields steady at 3.65%.

Headlines

Winners: PBH, APM, ALG, OBL, BBN, MGF, TLC, OFX
Losers: CRN, SYA, SHV, SDR, URW, AEF, LTR
Positive sectors: Nothing
Negative sectors: Everything else.

High 6685 Low 6568. ASX 200 down 10.1% for financial year.
Big Bank Basket: Drops hard to $159.30 (-2.6%)
All-Tech index: Down 0.9%.
Gold: Drifts higher to $2639
Bitcoin: Heading lower at US$20025
Aussie Dollar: Steady at 69.79c
10-Year Yield Eases to 3.65%.
Asian markets: Japan down 1.2%. HK flat China up 1.4%
US Futures: Dow down 205 Nasdaq down 120 – European markets opening down. OPEC plus meeting.

Major Movers

PBH +10.74% betting is back.
OBL +3.50% sale of interest in class action investment.
BBN +2.77% ceasing to become a substantial shareholder.
CAR +0.77% good relative bounce back on broker comments.
TLC +2.26% takeover speculation.
HZR +19.69% new CEO brings cheer.
PAR +10.29% Australian partners acceptance.
AMA +9.68% change of director’s interest.
WBT +5.31% kicks on from positive ReRam announcement.
RF1 -10.41% ex dividend 24c.
ERA -2.56% equity raise gets put on hold for now.
SWM -4.65% court proceedings against Cricket Australia.
SHV -6.19% the bees have it. Mite be issues.
SDR -6.15% another down day.
LTR -5.80% profit taking – investor presentation.
AQZ -4.80% thin volume.
DGO -13.31% change in substantial holding.
ABY -10.64% consumer stocks tumbling.
EOS -8.77% tax loss selling.
AEF -5.86% fund managers under pressure.
Speculative Stock of the Day: Absolutely no volume in anything again today. Sign of the times.

In the News

ALS (ALQ) enters agreement with HRL under which ALS will acquire all shares of HRL it does not already own by way of off-market takeover at 16c. Implies an equity value, ~$82.2m.
CSR (CSR) to commence on-market share buyback of up to $100m. Reaffirms FY23 outlook.
Suncorp (SUN) in talks with Bendigo & Adelaide Bank regarding a potential merger of banking businesses.
Uniti Group (UWL) declares a special dividend of 10.5c subject to Morrison-Brookfield acquisition.
Ardent Leisure Group (ALG) shareholders votes 99.4% in favour of the sale of US business Main Event.
Tabcorp Holdings (TAH) chairman Bruce Akhurst discloses acquisition of 250K shares.
AGL has been surprised to learn that Brookfield may have been buying shares and has a 2.56% stake.
Barrenjoey said Liontown (LTR) is currently pricing in a spodumene price of US$980/t from July 1, 2022, against a spot spodumene price of US$6,400/t according to Platts.
Collection House (CLH) – Goes bust, into administration.

Economic News/Bond Markets

UBS tips cash rate to reach 2.6% by November. Expects the cash rate to reach 2.6% by November 2022 starting with consecutive 50bps increases in July and August.

CBA has lifted the saving rate on its NetBank Saver account, with ANZ Bank lifting rates on its Progress Saver and Online Saver accounts by 25bps. The bank also today said it would increase its fixed home loan rates by 1.4%

New Zealand will enter a recession next year that could be deeper than expected, Bank of New Zealand economists have forecast. The business confidence index by ANZ Bank fell to minus 62.6, nearing the record-low of minus 66.6 reached in April 2020 in teh dim dark days of lockdown.

Private Sector Credit for May was up 0.8%, ahead of expectations of 0.6%. Borrowing and spending are positively correlated. Businesses tend to seek credit when they are confident in their future financial position.
There were 480,000 job vacancies in May 2022, 58,000 more than in February 2022, and more than double the vacancies in February 2020
National job vacancies (Three months to May) were up 13.8% to another record high. The table below orders the industries from highest to the lowest.in terms of vacancy rates.

Engineering and construction

Resources industry data group Benchmark Minerals Intelligence says battery-grade lithium carbonate prices in China last traded at around RMB 469,000 a tonne ($US69,875). This is up about 400% in the past year and encouraging suppliers to lift production.

Asian Markets

China’s June official services (non-manufacturing) PMI has rebounded to 54.7 versus 47.8 in the prior month. The jump comes after Shanghai came out of strict lockdowns in June.
President Xi Jinping will arrive in Hong Kong for its 25th anniversary of Chinese rule. First trip outside China for nearly 900 days. But isn’t HK China? Not mainland anyway. The Chinese leader will return on July 1 to swear-in Carrie Lam’s successor, John Lee.
Chinese stocks set for largest monthly rise since 2020.

US and European Headlines

European markets opening around 0.5% lower.
OPEC meeting continues today. Wimbledon too.
NATO meeting and Putin response in focus.
German retails sales fell 3.6% Y/Y.Off 2% forecast.
Central bank chiefs call end to era of low rates and moderate inflation
Crypto fund Three Arrows into liquidation after default.
Mark Lamb, the CEO of embattled cryptocurrency exchange CoinFlex, said that withdrawals will probably not restart on Thursday as the company initially hoped.