ASX 200 falls 45 points to 6606 (-0.7%) after a solid rally off lows. Resources took the big hit. Banks had a decent rally off early lows. Resources saw commodities flop and took the sector with it. BHP down 3.5%, FMG off 6.2% and RIO down 2.9%. Gold miners also fell, NCM down 2.8%, NST off 2.5%. Base metal stocks hit, IGO down 7.1%, POS off 2.4% and S32 falling 3.7%. Lithium stocks down but escaping somewhat, AKE down 1.4%, PLS off 2.9% and LYC off 0.7% in the REE space. Oil and gas stocks were flat as oil briefly fell below US$95 for Brent. Coal stocks eased back slightly, WHC down 2.3%, NHC off 1.7% and SMR dropping 1.6%. In the banks, the Big Bank Basket fell to $163.26 (-0.01%). CBA up 0.1% with ANZ under pressure over its MYOB business buy, down 1.3%. MQG fell 1.8% in sympathy with US banks. Insurers eased, QBE down 0.6%. Healthcare better led by CSL up 1.0%, RMD up 1.9%, COH up 1.7%. Industrials flat, WOW and COL higher but REA fell 1.2%, SEK down 2.7% and CAR off 4.3%.WES 0.9% better. Tech dominated by a good update from WTC up 3.4%, the All–Tech Index fell 0.8%. In corporate news, JIN fell 15.00% on a disappointing update. PDL saw FUM drop again and the stock fell 7.8%. PTX up 15.62% on news on orphan drug designation for PTX 100. Asian markets mixed, 10-year yields steady at 3.40%. 

  • Winners: SLX, WTC, AEF, MYX, MTS, PGH
  • Losers: JIN, PDL, MIN, IGO, PNV, FMG, PTM
  • Positive sectors: Healthcare. Staples.
  • Negative sectors: Iron ore. Base metals. Lithium. Gold. Coal.
  • High 6622 Low 6537. Good rally off lows. Low volume again.
  • ASX down 1.1% for the week.
  • Big Bank Basket: Falls to $163.26 (0.01%)
  • All-Tech index: Down 0.8%
  • Gold: Steady at $2552
  • Bitcoin: Holding steady at US$20,116
  • Aussie Dollar: Steady at 67.57c.
  • 10-Year Yield:  Flat at 3.40%
  • Asian markets: Better with Japan up 0.6%, China down 0.4% and HK down 1.7%
  • US Futures: Dow up 43 Nasdaq up 35
  • European markets pointing to a weaker start down by around 0.5%.

MAJOR MOVERS

  • WTC +3.42% business update.
  • AEF +3.24% clean and green.
  • SLX +4.44% back towards top of range.
  • PTX +15.62% US FDA grants orphan drug designation for PTX-100
  • ANG +4.35% expected increase on FY22 EBITDA.
  • ZIP +5.56% becoming a substantial shareholder.
  • BBC +8.81% trading update recently.
  • LLL +11.69% roaring ahead.
  • EOS -11.41% Space issues.
  • BBT -8.33% red bet.
  • RHY -10.34% profit taking.
  • BCI -6.25% MD and CEO transition.
  • JIN -14.99% the elephant in the room disappoints.
  • PDL -7.84% FUM drops.
  • IGO -7.14% base metals smashed.
  • NVX -5.16% down again.
  • MGX -6.00% iron ore falls.
  • Speculative Stock of the Day:  Falcon Metals (FAL) +29.73% intersects high grade gold at Ironbark East

IN THE NEWS

  • Rio Tinto (RIO) Q2 Pilbara Iron ore shipments (100% basis) 79.9Mt vs consensus 80.6Mt. Notes expected H1 impact to underlying earnings from inflation.
  • Jumbo Interactive (JIN) preliminary FY underlying NPAT $31.6m vs consensus $33.1m. Revenue is forecast to climb 27% to $103.8m.
  • WiseTech Global (WTC) FY22 EBITDA guidance increased to $310-320m vs prior $275-295m.
  • CSR (CSR), Fletcher Building (FBU), Wagners (WGN) and Boral (BLD) understood to be out of the running for BGC group.
  • Zip Co (ZIP) Sky News UK has reported troubled buy now, pay later business is seeking to sell its UK business, or close it down if it cannot find a buyer.
  • Michael Hill International (MHJ) Q4 same-store sales up 2.1% vs a year ago. Expects full-year comparable EBIT between $60-A$63m vs year-ago $56.6m.
  • Pendal’s (PDL) assets under management (AUM) at June 30 dropped by $13.9bn  to $111bn as investors pulled $4.2bnfrom funds managed by the group. The rest of the decline is attributable to market movements.
  • AVZ Minerals (AVZ) still suspended -says it’s still talking to the Congolese government over the grant of a mining licence and an update regarding its exploration rights for the Manono lithium project in the Congo.

ECONOMIC NEWS/ BOND MARKETS

  • Commonwealth Bank has forecast the Reserve Bank to deliver back to back 50bps interest rate increases in August and September. CBA expects a further 25bps in November to take the cash rate to 2.6%.

ASIAN MARKETS

  • Chinese GDP came in at 0.4% expansion in the second quarter, lower than economists’ forecasts of 1.2% growth and the weakest pace since 2020.
  • Industrial output rose 3.9% in June from a year earlier, up from May’s increase of 0.7% and compared with a median estimate of 4%.
  • Retail sales grew 3.1%, compared with a contraction of 6.7% in May and beating a 0.3% increase projected by economists.
  • The surveyed jobless rate eased to 5.5% from May’s 5.9%. For those aged 16-24, the jobless rate reached a new record of 19.3%
  • China reports US$312m if bad loans in mortgage boycott. Chinese’s property prices fell for a 10th month in June. New home prices in 70 cities, excluding state-subsidized housing, slipped 0.1% from May.

US AND EUROPEAN HEADLINES

  • Italian PM resigns, President says non c’è modo. Super Mario will address Parliament next week. Euro crisis anyone?
  • Biden defends his decision to visit Saudi Arabia today.
  • Amazon plans further 4,000 UK jobs despite global slowdown.
  • G20 finance ministers meet in Bali.
  • Jamie Dimon sums up US economic outlook succinctly. The US economy continues to grow and both the job market and consumer spending, and their ability to spend, remain healthy. But geopolitical tension, high inflation, waning consumer confidence, the uncertainty about how high rates have to go and the never-before-seen quantitative tightening and their effects on global liquidity … are very likely to have negative consequences on the global economy sometime down the road.”
  • Yellen says price cap on Russian oil is ‘one of our most powerful tools’ to address inflation.