Friday 5th August – Australian Market Wrap | Beeks Downunder-Because not all financial news is boring!

ASX 200 finished the week in style, hitting a high of 7016, up 41 points (+0.6%). Global markets hitting two-month highs. Resources were back in fashion, BHP leading the charge, up 1.7%, and RIO up 2.6%, with FMG rallying 2.7%. Base metals in demand, too, OZL up 3.1%, IGO up 4.1%, and S32 rallying 2.4%. Gold miners shining, NCM up 0.7%, DEG up 3.2%, and EVN up 3.4%. Lithium stocks, too, continued the rally, LTR up 6.7% and CXO up 6.2% on a new CEO. Oil and gas though fell sharply, KAR down 5.85%, WDS off 1.3%, and STO falling 0.7%. Old king coal, not such a merry old soul either WHC down 3.5% and NHC off 5.4%. Industrials and healthcare going nicely. CSL up 0.7%, with RHC finding friends finally up 3.7%, and COH also up 1.8%. WES rallied 1.5%, TLS very solid again, up 1.0%, and COL, EDV and WOW doing well. Tech better, WTC up 1.2% on an upgrade, XRO eased 2.6%, and CPU off 1.5 %. The All–Tech Index off 1.1%. The banks were solid, CBA slipped 0.4%, but the other three were solid, ANZ up 0.8% and Rights up 5.7%. MQG rallied with insurers also in demand, QBE up 1.3%, and SUN ahead by 1.7%. The Big Bank Basket steady at $177.23 (0%). In corporate news, ARU dived 14.0% as its capital raising weighed. SQ2 fell 6.2% on the US results. The RBA released its SOMP. No surprises really. None expected. Asian markets firm, Japan up 0.8%, China up 0.7%, and HK unchanged.

Headlines

Winners: NVX, ASM, NMT, LTR, RMS, BGL, SLR, CXO
Losers: ARU, MAD, MP1, SQ2, KAR, QAL, NHC, ABB
Positive sectors: Iron ore. Base metals. Lithium.; Gold miners. Financials. Healthcare.
Negative sectors: Oil and gas. Coal. Tech.

High 7017 Low 6970. Narrow range but steady build.
ASX 200 up 1% on the week.
Big Bank Basket: Steady at $177.23. ANZ Rights up 5.7%
All-Tech index: falls by 1.1%.
Gold: Higher at $2571
Bitcoin: Up to US$23137
Aussie Dollar: Steady at 69.64c
10-Year Yield: Back to 3.08%.
Asian markets: Asian markets firm, Japan up 0.8%, China up 0.7% and HK unchanged.
European markets: Opening slightly firmer.
US Futures: Dow up 89. Nasdaq up 31. 258k Jobs added in July is forecast for NFP.

Major Movers

NVX +13.65% no news but buyers don’t care.
CXO +6.20% new CEO
RMS +6.7% BGL +6.63% gold miners blossom.
360 +5.76% tech buys continue.
TYR +4.98% heads higher again.
NMT +7.05% rally gather momentum.
IHL +24.44% completes acquisition of APIRx.
MNS +13.85% battery tech.
WBT +9.06% tech bounce.
4DS -8.57% slipping a little.
DEV -11.76% shallow intercepts at Junee.
ARU -14.06% $41.5m placement
MP1 -7.12% sellers taking short term profits.
KAR -5.85% tuns out of petrol.
NHC -5.37% YAL -3.3% coal down.
NEC -3.77% broker downgrade.
VEA -4.53% oil price falls.
ASB -3.30% delivers 2nd Evolved Cape Class Patrol boat to RAN.
Speculative Stock of the Day: An embarrassment of riches, not one but two, Peregrine Gold (PGD) +75.00% on spectacular mineralisation at Pennisula project. Significant visible gold. And TEM +20.51% after reinstatement following transformative acquisition of Tolukuma and Mt Penck projects.

In the News

Core Lithium (CXO) appointed Gareth Manderson as its new chief executive.
GQG Partners (GQG) reported a $US2.2bn increase in funds under management for the month of July to $US88.9bn.
Block (SQ2) reported weaker-than-expected gross payment volumes. Gross profit was $US1.47bn, in line with estimates. Warned its bitcoin revenue is a poor measure of its business health given the volatility.

Economic News/Bond Markets

RBA Statement on Monetary Policy updated forecasts. Forecasts for global growth in 2022 and 2023 have been revised down since the May Statement, in response to the weaker outlook for real incomes and faster increases in policy rates. Growth in Australia’s major trading partners is expected to fall well below the pre-pandemic average this year, in part because measures to suppress China’s COVID-19 outbreak have weighed on activity much more than anticipated.
One key uncertainty for the global growth outlook is how resilient consumer spending will be in response to a sharp slowing in real income growth and higher interest rates. It is also uncertain how persistent inflation will prove to be.

Asian Markets

India’s central bank delivered its third straight interest-rate increase since May. The repurchase rate was raised by 50bp to 5.40%.

US and European Headlines

European markets expected to open slightly firmer ahead of Jobs.
Tesla shareholders approved a three-for-one stock split. Musk teases more factories and output.
Musk joked that “making macroeconomic prognostications is a recipe for disaster” but nonetheless estimated that “we are past peak inflation” and likely to see a “relatively mild recession.”
Atlassian narrowed its fourth quarter net loss to $US105.5m compared with a loss of $US213.1m in the same period last year. For the 2022 financial year, Atlassian posted a net loss of $US614.1m compared with last year’s loss of $US696.3m.
Block’s transaction, loan, and consumer receivables losses were $US157m in the second quarter of 2022, up 225% year over year.
World chip sales growth has decelerated for six straight months – Semiconductor sales rose 13.3% in June from a year earlier, down from 18% in May.
Warner Bros Discovery calls time on ‘spend, spend, spend’ streaming model.
Visa and Mastercard cut ties with ad arm of Pornhub owner MindGeek.
Liz Truss claims UK recession can be averted. Yeah right!
In the UK, the average price of a pint has risen by more than 70% since the financial crisis nearly 15 years ago, from £2.30 in 2008 to £3.95, according to research by the consultancy CGA . One pub in London was charging £8.06 for a pint. The cheapest was in Lancashire and cost £1.79. Not sure I will be drinking in London.

And finally…..