ASX 200 rallied into the weekend with the index up 17 points to 7155 (+0.2%). For the week, the index fell 1.7% on mainly debt woes, and lack of our own Nvidia. Banks and resources were better today, the Big Bank Basket up to $168.78 (+0.35%) as yields continue to push higher and WBC becomes the latest bank to cancel its cashback offer on home loans. War is over it seems. Insurers doing well on the back of yields rising, even money managers better today. REITs conversely under pressure on higher rates, GMG down 0.6% and MGR off 1.7%. Healthcare in ICU today, CSL down 0.7% with RMD off 1.7% and FPH underwhelming on results falling 6.3%. Tech once again better, WTC continues to push higher despite global growth concerns perhaps, XRO slipped slightly with TNE and ALU both better, and chip wannabes BRN and WBT finding friends today. The All-Tech Index rose another 0.9%. Bit of short covering in retail land, DMP up 2.9%, Travel better CTD up 2.2% and LOV up 1.2%. KGN up 3.3% too. Switching gears to resources and a better day as iron ore stabilised, BHP up 1.4% and FMG bouncing hard up 3.3%. Lithium stocks mixed, SYA tapping investors for another $200m at the same price they did a year ago. Gold miners continue to drift lower and oil and gas stocks down too with coal in not such a merry place. In corporate news, IVC held its AGM and gave a positive outlook statement, LFS down 3.5% after a profit warning following its cyberattack. On the economic front, retail sales in April were flat. This follows a 0.4% rise in March. Asian market mixed again and yields up to 3.74%. US Futures drifting ahead of debt talks and a long weekend. Dow Futuires up 5 and Nasdaq up 6

HEADLINES

• Winners: APM, AD8, MP1, BRN, ABC, CGC, MSB, WBT
• Losers: FPH, CSR, SDR, SQ2, RNU, CXL, LFS
• Positive sectors: Banks. Insurers. Tech. Travel. Iron ore.
• Negative sectors: REITs. Healthcare. Staples. Gold miners.
• High 7156 Low 7129
• Big Bank Basket: Rises to $168.78 (0.35%)
• All-Tech index: Up 0.9% in Nvidia sympathy still.
• Gold steady at $2989
• Bitcoin: Drifts to US$25769
• Aussie Dollar: Slips to 65.17c
• 10-Year Yield: Pushing higher to 3.74%.
• Asian markets: Japan flat, China up 0.3% and HK down 1.9%
• US Futures: Dow up 5 Nasdaq up 6

MAJOR MOVERS

• APM +9.7% UK contract win and business update.
• BRN +6.2% WBT +3.7% Nvidia bounce.
• MP1 +6.2% ALU +3.6% tech stocks in favour.
• ABC +5.6% broker upgrades.
• BTH +7.7% few buyers around.
• EBR +8.9% kicking higher.
• MI6 +11.11% experienced mining executive appointed as CEO.
• CAT +13.5% nine lives. Focus on profits working.
• WA1 +17.2% Regal Funds lodges substantial shareholder notice. Doubled in a month!
• AD8 +8.0% webinar next week.
• MSB +3.9% better numbers.
• CSR -5.0% Ex dividend.
• FPH -6.3% disappointing results.
• LFS -3.5% cyberattack fallout.
• AX1 -3.4% retail under pressure.
• CTT -2.1% sell off continues.
• HUM -8.2% ASIC halts some BNPL products.
• LRS -5.3% profit taking.
• IMM -14.9% abstract publications from the annual report.
• Speculative Stock of the Day: Blaze Minerals (BLZ) +90.0%. Buys Canadian lithium project. Good volume to. Plenty of staged payments for an $8m market cap.

COMPANY NEWS

• Invocare (IVC) – issued a trading update at the AGM today.It saw a decline in market deaths compared to the same period last year, the mortality rate was tracking back to long-term trends. First quarter operating EBITDA was broadly in line with expectations. TPG still has a revised offer of 1300c on the table. DD expires in 5 weeks.
• Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (FPH) – Net profit decreased by 34% as its revenue fell 6% to $NZ1.6bn in FY23. The company expects a full-year operating revenue of $NZ1.7bn for 2024.
• Appen Ltd (APX) -Chairman described the company’s 2022 financial results as “far from satisfactory” during the AGM, attributing them to a broader tech slowdown in the US.
• Sayona Mining (SYA) – In a trading halt as it prepares a capital raising for up to $200m at 18c, which is a 14.3% discount to the last close and the same price as one year ago.  Suspect we will see another one next year too.
• Mesoblast (MSB) – Reduced its after-tax losses to $18.6m in the March quarter, compared to $21.3m in the previous year. The company also experienced a 4% growth in revenue from royalties on sales of Temcell in Japan, reaching $2m for the quarter.
• APM Human Services International Ltd (APM) – Won a £384m ($720m) contract to deliver Functional Assessment Services in the London over five years. APM expects its underlying NPATA for FY23 to be in the range of $175m to $180m.
• Latitude Group (LFS) – Issued a profit warning and cancelled its interim dividend after experiencing lost income and higher credit losses following a cyberattack in March. LFS expects NPAT range of $15m to $25m for the full year.
• Link Administration Holdings (LNK) – Entered into a new contract with Rest, extending their 30-year partnership by an additional five years.
• Humm Group (HUM) – ASIC has issued an interim stop order. Restricting the company’s ability to offer its buy now, pay later (BNPL) products to new customers.
• NRW Holdings (NWH) – Subsidiary Primero Group has been awarded a $54m contract by Rio Tinto (RIO) for the design, construction, and commissioning of Non-Process Infrastructure facilities at the Western Range Mine Site.

ECONOMIC & OTHER HEADLINES

• CBA said it does not expect the RBA to lift the cash rate next month after its assessment of the minutes of the May policy meeting did not support a move in June.
• Retail turnover was unchanged last month following a 0.4% rise in March, figures released by the ABS show. It also follows a 0.2% rise in February.

• Mike Cannon-Brookes has beaten ‘Twiggy’ Forrest to buy the collapsed Sun Cable venture in a consortium agreement with infrastructure investor Quinbrook.

ASIAN MARKETS

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg now expect China’s gross domestic product to expand 5.5% this year from a year ago, edging down from a prior estimate of 5.6%. The government has set a fairly conservative growth goal of around 5% for the year.

• The Tokyo core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food but includes fuel costs, rose 3.2% in May from a year earlier, government data showed on Friday, roughly matching a median market forecast for a 3.3% gain.
• While inflation slowed from the previous month’s 3.5%, it stayed above the BoJ’s 2% target for a full year.

US AND EUROPEAN HEADLINES

• Core US CPI numbers tonight. Memorial Day Monday.
• UK Retail Sales up 0.5% M/M in April, down 0.9% in March. M/M figures are better than expected.
• US debt ceiling talks turning a little more positive.
• US credit squeeze triggers rise in corporate bankruptcies.
• Spanish regional elections Sunday.
• German authorities have serious indications of possible data protection violations by Tesla. The government report said Tesla had failed to adequately protect data from customers employees and business partners, citing 100 gigabytes of confidential data leaked to the newspaper by a whistleblower.
• TSMC is in talks to receive German government subsidies for as much as 50% of the costs to build its new semiconductor plant in the country.

And finally….

Clarence

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