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ASX 200 kicks another 39 points higher to 7820 (+0.5%), on better-than-expected CPI number. 3.4% slightly ahead of consensus. Good news and bad. Banks as usual the winners, with the Big Bank Basket up to $209.95 (+0.8%). Insurers jumped after the CPI showed price hikes still above and beyond inflation. QBE up 1.2% and SUN up 2.2%. GQG had a good day rising 2.7% but PTM cratered 21.1% on cost-cutting and FUM loss news. REITs mixed, GMG up 0.7% and MGR down 0.9%. Healthcare solid, CSL pushing up 1.4% on a bond issuance program, COH rising 0.6% and RMD up 2.0%. WOW and COL doing well in the industrials. Up over 1.5%. Even TLS managed a solid 0.5% bounce. Tech a little weaker, WTC falling 1.1%. The All-Tech Index flat lined. Resources staged a fightback after early losses. RIO down 0.4% and BHP up 0.1%. Gold miners selectively doing ok, NST up 2.2% and NEM up 0.4%.  Lithium finding some temporary support, PLS up 0.3%, uranium stocks a little soggy. Oil and gas stocks mixed. In corporate news, WBC announced a cunning plan to play catch up on IT spending. APM in suspense after CVC walks away, and the SXL chair has retired. On the economic front, CPI came in a notch below expectations. Asian markets. Japan up 1.0%, HK off 0.6% and China off 0.5%. 10Y yields 4.02%. Dow Futures up 137 points. NASDAQ Futures up 68 points. 

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Winners: WC8, COE, SPR, EMR, MYX, RIC
  • Losers: PTM, BRN, MYR, LOT, WBT, GWA, BOE
  • Positive sectors: Banks. Healthcare. Insurance. Gold miners. Supermarkets.
  • Negative sectors: Tech slightly.
  • ASX 200 Hi 7812 Lo 7776
  • Big Bank Basket: Up to $209.85(0.8%)
  • All-Tech Index:  Down 0.1%
  • Gold: Higher at $3336.
  • Bitcoin: Steady at US$70,153
  • 10-year Slips back to 4.00%
  • AUD: Better at 65.28c.
  • Asian markets Japan up 1.1%, HK off 0.6% and China off 0.5%
  • Dow Futures up 140 Nasdaq futures up 67

MAJOR MOVERS

  • COE +10.0% kicks higher on crude.
  • WC8 +11.1% bounces back.
  • SIG +3.6% good volume.
  • VEE +10.5% Small and Mid-Cap Conference presentation.
  • BUB +17.2% investor presentation.
  • OPT +4.2% seeing good gains.
  • ALA +11.5% presenting at AACR annual meeting.
  • WBC -0.9% IT spend to play catch up.
  • PTM -21.1% restructure and loss of FUM from insto.
  • BRN -6.1% funding forthcoming.
  • MYR -5.3% ex-dividend.
  • 29M -10.0% rain interrupts play.
  • CAT -7.3% reverses all engines after ASX query.
  • Speculative Stock of the Day: OSX +361.5% Secures Singapore and Vietnam market approvals.

COMPANY NEWS

ECONOMIC AND OTHER HEADLINES

  • Australian CPI came in at 3.4% in the 12 months to February. Better than 3.5% expected.
  • Yen sinks to 34-year low.
  • President Xi Jinping met with a group of US business executives in Beijing as bilateral tensions continue to rise.
  • The Chinese government is “very close” to lifting the heavy tariffs on Australian wine imports. The Australian government is hopeful the wine tariffs will be lifted by the end of March.
  • Australia China Business Council says ‘good old days’ are over.
  • Larry Fink warns retirement crisis looms for ageing world population.
  • Mumbai is now the Asian capital with the most number of billionaires, according to Hurun Research Institute’s Global Rich List. Topping the 2024 global rich list for cities is New York (119), followed by London (97).
  • China has initiated dispute settlement proceedings against the United States at the World Trade Organisation to safeguard its interests in the electric vehicle industry.

And finally…..

I’ve only got two, maybe three Motown puns left in me…

Four tops

Clarence

XXXX