| World Overnight | |||
| SPI Overnight (Jun) | 6461.00 | – 2.00 | – 0.03% |
| S&P ASX 200 | 6451.90 | – 4.10 | – 0.06% |
| S&P500 | 2826.06 | ||
| Nasdaq Comp | 7637.01 | ||
| DJIA | 25585.69 | ||
| S&P500 VIX | 15.85 | ||
| US 10-year yield | 2.32 | ||
| USD Index | 97.74 | + 0.13 | 0.13% |
| FTSE100 | 7277.73 | ||
| DAX30 | 12071.18 | + 60.14 | 0.50% |
By Greg Peel
Party’s Over
It was always a good chance the ASX would see a quiet session yesterday with Wall Street closed, the UK closed and random tweets unlikely as The Donald played nice in Tokyo. And indeed it was a low volume day.
A little-moved index nevertheless belied some notable sector movements beneath.
Profit-taking continued in the banks (-0.5%) suggesting the election gloss continues to fade away. The exit of Suncorp’s ((SUN)) CEO was also worth -2.1%.
That money appeared to flow into the rarefied air in which the iron ore miners are currently flying, with no immediate sign of a pullback in the iron ore price. Materials rose 0.8%. Watch this space today.
Speaking of switching, it seems if you wanted to get in ahead the highly conditional takeover bid by the Swedes for Vocus Group ((VOC)) the best place for funding was Telstra. Vocus jumped 17% but the telcos sector fell -1.0% as Telstra dropped -2.8% after initially rallying.
Consumer staples had another down-day (-0.8%) with Woolworths ((WOW)) again in the frame. That stock fell another -1.2% after announcing the completion of its buyback.
Energy might have expected more after the oil price bounced back but a -1.1% fall for Oil Search ((OSH)), following the announced retirement of the PNG prime minister, squared things up for a flat close.
Healthcare also closed flat despite a weak earnings report from Fisher & Paykel Healthcare ((FPH)) sent that stock down -3.2%.
With the futures down -2 points again this morning it looks like we’re in for more of the same, but for the fact the iron ore price has shot up another 4% and Brent crude is up 1% to boot.
Commodities
| Spot Metals,Minerals & Energy Futures | |||
| Gold (oz) | 1284.60 | 0.00 | 0.00% |
| Silver (oz) | 14.56 | + 0.03 | 0.21% |
| Copper (lb) | 2.68 | 0.00 | 0.00% |
| Aluminium (lb) | 0.80 | 0.00 | 0.00% |
| Lead (lb) | 0.82 | 0.00 | 0.00% |
| Nickel (lb) | 5.60 | 0.00 | 0.00% |
| Zinc (lb) | 1.23 | 0.00 | 0.00% |
| West Texas Crude | 59.21 | + 0.22 | 0.37% |
| Brent Crude | 70.16 | + 0.92 | 1.33% |
| Iron Ore (t) futures | 108.00 | + 4.35 | 4.20% |
Russian oil production trended lower in May due to a contamination issue at a major pipeline. The downturn in May finally brings Russia in line with the production cuts it agreed upon with OPEC.
The news sent Brent oil in particular over a percent higher.
The LME was closed overnight so no base metal price movements. Gold was open for trade but is unchanged despite the US dollar index rising 0.1%.
Iron ore was well and truly open for trade.
The Aussie fell -0.1%.
Today
The SPI Overnight closed down -2 points.
China releases April trade numbers today while tonight the US checks out consumer confidence.
Galaxy Resources ((GXY)) holds its AGM today.
The Australian share market over the past thirty days…
| BROKER RECOMMENDATION CHANGES PAST THREE TRADING DAYS | |||
| ABC | ADELAIDE BRIGHTON | Upgrade to Outperform from Neutral | Macquarie |
| AGL | AGL ENERGY | Downgrade to Underperform from Neutral | Macquarie |
| Downgrade to Sell from Buy | UBS | ||
| ANN | ANSELL | Upgrade to Outperform from Neutral | Credit Suisse |
| BSL | BLUESCOPE STEEL | Downgrade to Neutral from Buy | UBS |
| CLW | CHARTER HALL LONG WALE REIT | Upgrade to Buy from Hold | Ord Minnett |
| COL | COLES GROUP | Downgrade to Neutral from Buy | Citi |
| CSR | CSR | Upgrade to Outperform from Neutral | Macquarie |
| Downgrade to Sell from Neutral | Citi | ||
| EHE | ESTIA HEALTH | Downgrade to Neutral from Buy | UBS |
| EVN | EVOLUTION MINING | Downgrade to Hold from Accumulate | Ord Minnett |
| ILU | ILUKA RESOURCES | Upgrade to Buy from Neutral | Citi |
| KDR | KIDMAN RESOURCES | Downgrade to Hold from Buy | Ord Minnett |
| NST | NORTHERN STAR | Downgrade to Hold from Accumulate | Ord Minnett |
| OSH | OIL SEARCH | Downgrade to Underperform from Neutral | Credit Suisse |
| OZL | OZ MINERALS | Upgrade to Add from Hold | Morgans |
| PLS | PILBARA MINERALS | Downgrade to Lighten from Hold | Ord Minnett |
| QBE | QBE INSURANCE | Downgrade to Neutral from Outperform | Credit Suisse |
| SHL | SONIC HEALTHCARE | Downgrade to Sell from Neutral | UBS |
| SUL | SUPER RETAIL | Upgrade to Overweight from Equal-weight | Morgan Stanley |
| TNE | TECHNOLOGYONE | Downgrade to Sell from Neutral | UBS |
| WOW | WOOLWORTHS | Downgrade to Sell from Neutral | Citi |
