Did you miss me?

ASX 200 frittered away early gains to close down 53 points at 6987 (0.8%) in a mixture of apathy and low volumes. Iron ore weakness in Asia the turnaround as China authorities move to more supervision on pricing. BHP, RIO and FMG all took on water down around 1.5%, lithium stocks depressed again, PLS down 2.5%, IGO off 3.3% and MIN off 2.6%. Gold miners were one of the few sectors doing well, GMD up 3.8% on AGM comments NST up 1.7% with NEM still struggling down slightly. Oil and gas stocks weaker ahead of OPEC Plus. Banks fell with CBA off 1.0% and ANZ down 1.1% as the Big Bank Basket fell to $(). MQG slid 0.6% with insurers steady after QBE rose 2.2% on a premium update. Healthcare fell, CSL under pressure again, down 0.7%, REITs slid, GMG down 0.3%, tech better led by WTC and XRO up 1.6% and 0.4% respectively. Retail and staples also eased, WOW down 0.9%, WES off 0.6% and QAN down 0.8%. Utilities under pressure as ORG look to Plan B and C. In corporate news, ABY knocked back an offer from a UK company, HLS rallied 2.3% on the chair resigning. On the economic front, Michele Bullock has a new No 2. Asian markets weaker, Japan down 0.6%, HK off 1% and China down 1.2%

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Winners: IMU, WBT, RMS, GMD, TIE
  • Losers: WC8, LRS, LOT, CTT, CXO, DYL
  • Positive sectors: Gold miners. Tech just.
  • Negative sectors: Everything else.
  • High 7054 Low 6992
  • Big Bank Basket: $175.86
  • All-Tech index: Up 0.1%
  • Gold: Higher at $3062
  • Bitcoin: $37445
  • Aussie Dollar: Steady at 65.74c
  • 10-Year Yield: Higher at 4.56%
  • In Asian markets, Japan down 0.6%, HK off 1% and China down 1.2%
  • US Futures: Dow futures down 90 Nasdaq down 80

MAJOR MOVERS

  • IMU +8.3% volatility continues.
  • HLS +2.3% resignation of chair.
  • GMD +3.8% AGM presentation.
  • WBT +5.4% presenting at conference.
  • TIE +3.4% rejects bid at 58c.
  • 4DS +12.9% chip play.
  • PPS +15.6% Buyback update.
  • IVZ +10.3% update on drilling sidetrack.
  • LRS -5.1% lithium sell-off continues.
  • CXO -4.4% WC8 -7.1% under pressure.
  • ORR -10.4% deal modification.
  • Speculative Stock of the Day:  Sunshine Metals (SHN) +47.6% Friday drill hits from Liontown Feeder zone. Honourable mention to Chariot (CC9) -14.1% Up over 300% in a week on a drill arriving at Black Mountain. Very volatile. Very silly.

HEADLINES

  • Former Bank of England official, Andrew Hauser, will be the new deputy governor of the Reserve Bank.
  • Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo has been sacked from the public service after being found to have breached the code of conduct at least 14 times.
  • In China, National Development and Reform Commission announced late last Friday, that it had met with major port operators to discuss iron ore inventory and storage matters, as well as to seek measures against hoarding.
  • China launches probe into struggling shadow bank Zhongzhi. The Hang Seng Mainland Properties index, housing real estate firms, dropped 3.51%.
  • ByteDance plans to cut hundreds of jobs in gaming. It will also unwind projects under development and weigh potential sales of existing titles.
  • Japan’s service PPI rose 2.3% in October to its highest level since January 2020 and more than the prior month’s reading of 2%.
  • Sunak’s private funding plan for HS2 tunnel set to fail, warns adviser.
  • Elon Musk to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday along with Israelis whose relatives have been held by Hamas in Gaza.

And finally….Vale El Tel.

Clarence

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