Tuesday 25th March – ASX 200 up 6 – Budget in focus – US Futures turn down. | Beeks Downunder-Because not all financial news is boring!

The ASX 200 gave up strong gains to finish up 6 points at 7943 (0.1%) as US futures turned slightly negative. Banks were mixed with ANZ sold off by % and CBA up %. The Big Bank Basket down to $242.05 (-0.1%). MQG had a good day, up 2.6% as financials generally did well. RPL came clean with its exposure to OPT. VG1 rose 0.6% with RF1 down 2.4%. REITs did well, SGP up 0.8% with SCG up 0.9%. Healthcare too in demand, CSL up 1.4% and RMD up 1.5%. Industrials generally firmed, JBH up 1.0% and WTC bouncing 3.8% with the All–Tech Index up 0.5%. REA and CAR bouncing back on tech enthusiasm. Resources mixed again, BHP off 0.7% with FMG sliding 1.3%. Gold miners were slightly better with news of a bid for GOR dominating the sector. GOR rose 13.9% with GMD up 0.6% and SPR up 1.2%. Lithium stocks under some pressure, LTR down 3.9% and MIN back 1.0%. JHX continued to slide, 5% down. Oil and gas stocks firmed with uranium buyers getting a note from their parents to avoid buyers. PDN fell another 2.4% with NXG running hot on drill results, up 5.8%. In corporate news, NHC fell 3.6% after downgrading its convertible bond conversion price. Nothing on the economic front ahead of the Budget tonight. Asian markets saw sellers hit HK down 2.2%, China down 0.2% and Japan up 0.3%. 10-year yields steady at 4.42%.

HIGHLIGHTS

Winners: GOR, CYL, NXG, RPL, 360, SX2
Losers: DRO, JHX, PGC, ALX, BLX, LTR
Positive Sectors: Healthcare. Tech. Industrials.
Negative Sectors: Lithium. Uranium.
ASX 200 Hi 7994 Lo 7940 Budget beckons.
Big Bank Basket: Slips to $242.05 (-0.1%)
All-Tech Index: Up 1.1%.
Gold: Slips to $4797
Bitcoin: Drifts to US$86402
10-year yield steady at 4.43%.
AUD: Rises to 62.87c
Asian markets: Flat mixed. HK down 2.2%
Dow futures down 45 Nasdaq down 30

MARKET MOVERS

GOR +13.9% takeover overtures.
NXG +5.8% very positive drill results.
360 +5.3% tech bounce.
RPL +5.4% bouncing back on clarification.
SX2 +5.1% volume building.
CYL +6.7% Investor presentation.
WTC +3.8% finding some buyers.
BKY +17.0% response to ASX ‘Please explain’.
COI +8.0% Mahalo JV appoints Jemena to undertake pipeline FEED.
DRO -7.1% profit taking.
JHX -5.0% brokers negative on merger.
LTR -3.9% sell-off resumes.
ALX -4.4% ex distribution.
SM1 -16.2% continues to curdle.
PAC -2.8% change in substantial holding.
Speculative Stock of the Day: REE +175% RareX discovers high grade gallium at Cummins Range.

ECONOMIC AND OTHER NEWS

Budget tonight. Breakfast tomorrow.
Alibaba Chairman Joe Tsai warned of a potential bubble forming in datacentre construction, arguing that the pace of that buildout may outstrip initial demand for AI services.
BYD’s annual sales top $100bn for first time .
DeepSeek released updates to its V3 model that promise to deliver better programming capabilities, underscoring the Chinese AI startup’s intent to remain a step ahead of competitors.
Cathie Wood remains bullish on Tesla Inc. and expects the stock will hit $2,600 in five years, or almost 10 times its current price.
Greenland’s government hits back at Trump over US visit to Arctic island.
Indonesia names billionaire investor Ray Dalio as sovereign wealth fund adviser.
Shares in Chinese tech giant Xiaomi fell as much as 5.61% on Tuesday following its upsized $5.5bn share sale to ramp up its electric vehicle manufacturing plans.