It was Fed hangover carnage overnight and a sea of red in the local market from the outset. All 11 categories fell, with tech stocks leading losses, down 4.4%. Macquarie was thumped despite a fairly positive update, a small niggle was the dividend didn’t shoot the lights out. Macquarie down nearly 8% and Financials closed down just over 2%. To find green on screen needed the world’s largest magnifying glass - an early contender was Polynovo after a cracker upgrade, and earned a spot at the top o...
May 06, 2022•14 min•Season 3Ep. 73
The not-hawkish-enough FOMC hike overnight sent a rocket up US equities, and the bulk of that enthusiasm filtered into our local market. The energy complex closed 2% higher thanks to a pop in oil. Tech also rallied 2% as bond yields eased from recent highs. Top sector was gold, closing up 3%. Top of the company pops was beaten-up Imugene, closing over 7% higher after a rough ride. In company news, NAB was thumped 1.5% lower after its update, but clawed back some losses. Bottom feeder was Janus H...
May 05, 2022•9 min•Season 3Ep. 72
Sandwiched between the RBA yesterday and the FOMC tonight, there was a flurry of activity until lunchtime, before the market flatlined over the afternoon. Small caps were smashed, down 1.5% by the close. The RBA’s 25bp rate hike was passed straight into the variable mortgage rate by all the major banks, surprising no-one. ANZ didn’t disappoint, and financials closed up 0.6%. Previous market darlings AVX and ARB were thumped lower in the double-digits. JB Hi-Fi tested market patience with another...
May 04, 2022•12 min•Season 3Ep. 71
The local market took the first rate increase from the RBA since 2010 in its stride, recovering from a mid-afternoon swoon to close with modest losses. Most sectors finished lower with REITs and materials the largest drags with falls of over 1%. Financials, a beneficiary of higher interest rates, managed to recoup its early losses, ending the day down 0.3%. Bank reporting season kicks off tomorrow with ANZ’s preliminary result. Information Technology enjoyed a rare up day despite another lift in...
May 03, 2022•13 min•Season 3Ep. 71
The local market had a rough start to the month, although it could have been worse. Just ask those on Wall Street. All sectors finished in the red, led by companies sensitive to movements in bond yields. Technology shed 4%, mirroring the bloodbath witnessed on the Nasdaq. Real Estate shed 3.8% while consumer discretionary, healthcare and communications all slid more than 1%. Utilities were the relative outperformer with a loss of 0.3%, if you can call it that. The S&P/ASX 200 closed 88 point...
May 02, 2022•17 min•Season 3Ep. 70
The local market made it two gains on the trot to round off April. Month-end window dressing and earnings optimism helped the S&P/ASX 200 lift to , adding to the big gains on Thursday. Every sector finished higher, led by telecommunications, tech, utilities and staples which rose more than 1%. Telix Pharmaceuticals, Pointsbet Holdings, Nickel Mines and ZIP topped the leader board, bouncing back after what’s been a horrible few months for growth stocks. Quarterly updates, broker moves and Met...
Apr 29, 2022•12 min•Season 3Ep. 69
The local market jumped from the outset, snapping an ugly three-day losing streak. Materials led the rebound, and the sector added a decent 3.5%. Fortescue lifted its iron ore shipments guidance, and closed a juicy 8.2% higher. Sandfire outperformed, popping 10% on a solid quarterly. AMP was the biggest percentage gainer after it offloaded its infrastructure investing unit, closing well north of 10%. After pulling its full year guidance Silver Lake Resources got the wooden spoon, down over 6%. T...
Apr 28, 2022•10 min•Season 3Ep. 67
It may have been another bloodbath overnight, but in the local market investors with thick chainmail gloves caught some falling knives. Energy closed up 0.8% and materials up 0.2%. Not so healthy were financials, closing down -1.6%. City Chic got a 6% bump on its upbeat quarterly update, closing at the top of the table. At the other end, Life360 was hammered by 29% as upbeat revenues were revealed, but nothing else was. The inflation report shot the lights out and triggered a cavalcade of capitu...
Apr 27, 2022•12 min•Season 6Ep. 66
Sell in May and go away. Well it’s not May just yet, but investors must want to get in early! The local market dived from the outset, spurred in part by the China-led rout yesterday. Energy and materials sunk from the open. It was the kind of day that no matter the corporate news, stock prices are down across the board. Bottom of the ladder is EML Payments after a “challenging” update, closed down a whopping 38%. In a sign of ‘baby out with the bathwater’ even market darlings Liontown Resources ...
Apr 26, 2022•10 min•Season 3Ep. 66
Splat! That was an unpleasant end to the week, mirroring the ugly price action on Wall Street overnight. Record highs will have to wait for another day. Finding green on screen was as difficult as finding hen’s teeth with most sectors finishing deep in the red. Materials skidded 3.3% while energy and information technology shed 2.5% apiece. Megaport slumped another 11% after tanking over 20% Thursday. It was not a good day for non-profitable companies with Paladin, Pointsbet, Square and Zip slum...
Apr 22, 2022•13 min•Season 3Ep. 65
It was another soggy resources day, balanced out by upbeat financials adding over 1%. BHP’s quarterly production miss and soggy guidance sparked a 3% selloff. In contrast, Challenger (up 8%) and Brambles’ (up 9.8%) quarterly updates were well received by the market. A broker nod saw Viva Energy add nearly 5%. Tech had a nasty day, the sector shedding 1.8%. There was a 7% slide in poster child Block, but the wooden spoon went to the 21% slump in Megaport. The S&P/ASX200 was edging ever closer...
Apr 21, 2022•9 min•Season 3Ep. 64
A decent lead from Wall Street made for an upbeat open, but this time it wasn’t about resource stocks. Materials closed down 1.5%, not helped by Rio’s production hiccups and shaky forward guidance. RIO closed down 2.8%. The energy complex also took a breather along with a step down in the oil price. Woodside closed down 0.7% and Santos down 1.08%, despite the latter planning a share buyback. M&A is never far away, and this time it was private equity offering overs for Ramsay Health Care. It ...
Apr 20, 2022•14 min•Season 3Ep. 63
The major miners kicked off a solid start to the holiday-shortened week, subsequently joined by energy and gold names. The big hitters Rio and BHP both closed higher, with a weaker Australian dollar boosting exporters more broadly. It was quite the mixed bag at the top of the ladder. Imugene added 8% on no news, followed by Cleanaway closing up nearly 6%, oil and gold names thereafter featured in the top 10. Volumes were slim, it must be said. Surging bond yields in the US weighed on tech, and A...
Apr 19, 2022•11 min•Season 3Ep. 63
It was quite the upbeat session despite investors having a firm eye on the upcoming four day long weekend. Materials, energy and gold led the gains throughout the day, while financials took a breather. The Bank of Queensland update revealed decent revenues but the NIM squeeze saw it drop to the bottom of the ladder, closing down over 6%. The March employment report didn’t shoot the lights out, but at least the whole nation now knows that the unemployment rate is 4%. It was another decent small-c...
Apr 14, 2022•13 min•Season 3Ep. 61
After a less than stellar overnight lead, local investors turned to energy, materials and small caps. Top of the ladder all day was EML Payments on chatter of a private equity bid, but Paladin and AVZ Minerals were late contenders for the top two names. All three closed double-digits higher. The RBNZ put the scalpel away and used the sledgehammer for a 50bp pop in the cash rate to 1.5%. Tonight, the Bank of Canada steps up and some analysts aren’t ruling out a 75bp pop! Overall, it was a solid d...
Apr 13, 2022•14 min•Season 3Ep. 60
It was a case of choose your poison as to why the market closed lower today: a poor US lead, surging bond yields, commodity price drops. There was a range of company news, not all good. Pendal rejected the Perpetual bid on the basis of not being in the interest of shareholders. Iress pulled the pin on divesting its UK mortgage book. Lynas reported record sales in its update, but after a stellar run closed down 2%. Three-year highs in bond yields is the writing on the wall for the “growth at all ...
Apr 12, 2022•8 min•Season 3Ep. 60
An early rally fizzled, undermined by deteriorating sentiment across the region, especially in China. The threat posed by prolonged lockdowns in Asia’s largest economy are only just starting to be digested. The materials and energy sectors proved to be the swing factor, moving from gains to losses as futures sank. Fortescue was among the worst performers sliding 3.1%. The banks kept the market afloat as 10-year Australian yields moved above 3% for the first time since 2015, reflecting growing RB...
Apr 11, 2022•16 min•Season 3Ep. 59
All sectors except real estate, consumer staples and utilities finished lower. Information Technology was hammered, following the weak Nasdaq lead. It skidded 3.4%, outpacing declines of more than 1.3% for energy and consumer discretionary. On the macro front, Westpac’s Bill Evans now sees the RBA hiking in June. The Fed continues to talk tough on inflation. Neither helped long duration names today. Novonix, Liontown Resources, WiseTech Global, Life360 and Pointsbet slumped more than 5.8%. Plus-...
Apr 07, 2022•13 min•Season 3Ep. 58
The local market finished hump day on the soggy side, following a less than ideal lead from Wall Street. The ASX closed down 0.5%, but things could have been worse as the market was down nearly 1% at one point. Perspective is also important - since the March 9 low - the index is up more than 500 points. PolyNovo won today's gold medal for best on ground - reporting record March quarter revenues. Elsewhere, Woodside cleared its final legal hurdles for starting the $16 billion Scarborough LNG proj...
Apr 06, 2022•14 min•Season 3Ep. 57
It was a bottom left-top right kind of day, within a whisker of a fresh record high by lunchtime. Mineral Resources share price leapt as it plans to increase lithium production at two of its mines, calling demand for lithium "unprecedented." But generally, it was a tech-led rally, not because rates aren’t rising but because Elon Musk snapped up 9.2% of Twitter. The RBA today dropped “patient” when it comes rate hikes saying it's waiting for a "couple months" of data, sending the Australian dolla...
Apr 05, 2022•11 min•Season 3Ep. 56
The local market had a positive start to the week, but volumes were thin. Whether the inverted US yield curve foretells a recession is still topic du jour. It was an M&A start to this Monday with Perpetual bidding $2.4 billion for Pendal, the latter share price trading over 23% at one stage, ending the day 18% higher. Otherwise, lithium stocks picked up where Friday left off. Iluka Resources closed up nearly 6% after receiving government funding to build a rare earths refinery. After a black...
Apr 04, 2022•12 min•Season 3Ep. 55
The local market sagged in early trade, with resources the only green on screen. Some broker reports gave the oil sector the nod, and so Santos and Woodside closed higher. Allkem jumped on the back of its price upgrade and finished over 8% higher. Pilbara Minerals wasn't far behind, and AVZ Minerals rounded out the top three. Meanwhile, it was a soggy one for tech and financials. For the first day of the month and quarter it was a rare show of unity: small, medium and large caps were behind the ...
Apr 01, 2022•13 min•Season 3Ep. 54
The local market was buoyant all day, with a jump in the iron ore price pushing the resource sector to a new record high. Blue chips Rio, Fortescue and BHP all closed up between 2-4.5%. After the relentless rally in financials, investors cooled on the idea and took some profits. Harvey Norman closed down 6% as it went ex-dividend. Block, Xero and Zip all finished around 3-5% lower as tech was once again out of favour. As quarter-end bites on March 31, the red sell button loomed. The S&P/ASX2...
Mar 31, 2022•12 min•Season 3Ep. 53
We’d like to say the Budget spurred today’s “seventh heaven” winning streak, but the yield curve is more likely responsible for key market moves. The tech sector again responded to lower longer-dated bond yields, although a bump in the industrial sector took out first prize. It seems profit-taking dragged down some popular names like Incitec Pivot, Whitehaven Coal and Liontown. Financials quietly sailed higher on this tide, today up another 0.9%. Overall, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 closed up 5...
Mar 30, 2022•13 min•Season 3Ep. 52
Posting a six-day winning streak puts the ASX back to mid-January levels ahead of tonight’s federal budget. Inverted yield curves juiced up tech names, the sector closing up 3%. Block went like a bullet, closing up 6.8%, but Telix Pharma topped that, closing up nearly 10% . Small-cap NearMap added a whopping 18% after its update. Uniti Group received a revised $5 per share proposal from the Morrison-Brookfield consortium, but closed lower at $4.66. The oil price slump hit the energy sector, Wood...
Mar 29, 2022•12 min•Season 3Ep. 51
It was a good start to the week, with banks and resources - houses and holes - keeping the market buoyant. In contrast, a surge in bond yields ate into tech stocks. Lithium and food-related stocks were back in the spotlight today. Iluka Resources, AVZ Minerals and Washington H Soul Patts put on a good show for investors. Today’s laggards were largely tech-related names like Xero and Tyro Payments, the sector closed down 1.6% in the end. The wooden spoon went to uranium darling Paladin, down over...
Mar 28, 2022•15 min•Season 3Ep. 50
It's been a tussle all week long between the value plays (banks and miners) and the tech stocks. Today, it was a day for the materials with that sector up more than 1.4%. Healthcare and IT were among the laggards while the S&P/ASX 200 VIX fell like a stone following its Wall Street equivalent. The local market finished on a two-month high - up 0.4%. Australian three-year government bond yields scaled a fresh three-year peak of 2.25% in the session, the highest since May 2018. Even more remar...
Mar 25, 2022•13 min•Season 3Ep. 49
Markets are like watching a windscreen wiper, where resources and tech vie for biggest gainer position on alternate days. Today, it was resources up and tech down. Utilities and energy names featured in the top ten as oil and natural gas surged on fresh supply risks from Russia. While the likes of Zip, Telix Pharma and City Chic made up a mixed bag of laggards. Fisher & Paykel slid again, as brokers downgraded the outlook after yesterday’s update. In contrast, investors embraced the JB Hi-Fi...
Mar 24, 2022•14 min•Season 3Ep. 46
It was a powerhouse for the contrarian trade with the froth blown off the resources sector and the goldies, while tech caught a tailwind. A late contender for the top of the ladder was Uniti, closing up nearly 11% on a Macquarie consortium bid at the 11th hour. Up until then, med-tech Imugene was comfortably in the lead after announcing a green light for a trial, closing up nearly 10%. With a somewhat irrational trust in the Fed, growth stocks soared, led by poster-children Block and Zip, both c...
Mar 23, 2022•12 min•Season 3Ep. 46
Australia's dominance in the resources space in these volatile times saw the local market open up strongly. Energy and commodities more broadly were bid up at the open, with financials joining the blue-chip exuberance. At the top of the ladder, eight out of the top 10 were resources, including lithium plays AVZ Minerals, Allkem and Liontown. Old-school BHP and Whitehaven Coal also featured. Financials closed up 0.7% higher, with the big five and insurance all closing higher. In contrast, in the ...
Mar 22, 2022•13 min
