Gold Loses More Shine
Gold stocks face a bit of a whacking this morning on the ASX after a sharp slide in the price of the metal overnight offset rises in the price of copper and iron ore (according to some measures).
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Construction Activity Cools
Construction activity in the Australian economy has fallen to its lowest level in nearly six years, extending the run of weak partial data for September quarter GDP in two week’s time.
Read MoreAust Ag Profit Slips
Beef producer the Australian Agricultural Company’s (AAC) half year profit fell 4% to $47.9 million.
Read MoreProgrammed Lifts On Skilled Synergies
The takeover of the Skilled Group seems to be finally contributing positively to Programmed Maintenance Services (PRG) bottom line.
Read MoreEstia Confirms Revised Outlook
Estia Health (EHE) shares have jumped nearly 6% to $3.03, their highest in six weeks, after the embattled aged-care operator reaffirmed earnings guidance.
Read MoreWebjet Zooms Into China
And in more company news, Webjet (WEB) shares rose strongly yesterday in the wake of confirmation of a solid rise in first half profit at Tuesday’s AGM and a deal with a Chinese travel group.
Read MoreDow Tops 19,000
For the first time since March 1998 (in the lead up to the tech and net boom and collapse), the major US market measures have finished a second trading day in record territory.
Read MoreCYBG Back In The Black
Freed of its National Australian Bank (NAB) parentage, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banking Group (CYB) has posted its first statutory profit in five years.
Read MoreAnglo American Halts Asset Sales
A straw in the wind, or a one off or special situation? Whatever it is, the decision by Anglo American to halt asset sales and hang on some its unwanted businesses, such as its Queensland coking coal mines has made the market sit up and take notice and wonder about what other resource companies might be thinking about their for sale assets.
Read MoreCloud Services Bolster TechnologyOne
Brisbane-based TechnologyOne (TNE) belied the recent weakness in its share price by revealing a better than expected 2015-16 result yesterday and higher dividends for shareholders.
Read MoreNo Slowdown As A2 Milks China
A case of what China slowdown?
Read MoreWall St Indexes Close At Record Highs
Higher oil, gold and Wall Street share prices will see the local market start with a solid gain of more than 30 points later this morning.
Read MoreBoral Bets Big On US Infrastructure
Boral (BLD) will double the size of its US business after it agreed to buy US firm Headwaters for a total of $US2.6 billion ($A3.5 billion) – $US1.8 billion for the company, plus around $US800 million in debt.
Read MoreKathmandu On Track
Kathmandu (KMD) shares rose a solid 4% yesterday, reversing some of the recent 10% slide after the annual meeting in NZ heard the outdoor equipment and clothing group planned to concentrate much of its investment in Australia in the coming year.
Read MoreDacian To Develop Gold Deposit For $220m
Dacian Gold (DCN) shares eased 2% to $3.07 yesterday as investors considered the continuing weakness in gold and the company’s plans to spend $220 million in what appears to be a tidy WA gold prospect.
Read MoreYellen Down The A$
What a difference one surprise US Presidential election result and a soaring US dollar (which hit 13-year highs on Friday) make to the thinking on the health of the Australian economy.
Read MoreGold Trumped, OPEC Hopes Hold Up Oil
Gold down (and down hard), oil up (more in relief) as the US dollar rose and rose.
Read MoreDiary: AGM Season, Fed Minutes, Giving Thanks
A quiet week ahead around the world with America’s Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday seeing trading halted for the day, and a half session on Friday, meaning most traders will play it safe.
Read MoreShares Pare Gains As Trump Trade Fades
There will be a hesitant start to trading today after markets closed mixed on Saturday morning.
Read MoreChina Cools Coal Restrictions
China’s top planning body has made formal its previous decision to relax coal production curbs over the northern winter to try and put pressure on surging prices, especially of thermal coal.
Read MoreInvestors Shrug Off James Hardie Downgrade
Shares in James Hardie (JHX) jumped solidly yesterday despite the company admitting to constraint problems that would put a lid on expected earnings for 2016-17.
Read MoreIsentia Unplugged
Isentia (ISD) shares have slumped by a record amount yesterday after the market intelligence and media monitoring company shocked investors with a profit warning.
Read MoreTelstra Looks To Slash More Costs
Telstra (TLS) will slash costs by $1 billion over the next five years at a time when it is investing as much as $15 billion in its networks over the next three years to fight intense competition.
Read MoreRio Scandal Turns Ugly
Rio Tinto (RIO) is in for a brawl after sacking two senior executives yesterday over the $US10.5 million payment in connection with the Simandou iron ore prospect in Guinea in West Africa. Rio said yesterday morning it had “today terminated the contracts of Energy & Minerals chief executive Alan Davies and Legal & Regulatory Affairs Group executive Debra Valentine.”
Read MoreLabour Market Still Sluggish
The continuing sluggishness in the labour market was underlined once again in the October employment report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Trend jobs growth slowed for the first time in three years as the heat continues to go out of employment growth. That’s despite a small rise in the number of seasonally adjusted jobs last month. This weak trend performance helps explain the slide in wages growth.
Read MoreSimandou Scandal Claims Rio Executives
Rio Tinto (RIO) has sacked two senior executives over the alleged $US10.5 million illegal payment made in connection with its Simandou iron ore project in the West African country of Guinea.
Read MoreCraft Beer Rescues Graincorp
Graincorp’s full-year profit dipped almost 4% to $30.9 million as its core grains business was impacted by below-average production in eastern Australia, a result that disguised another strong performance from its malt barley business.
Read MoreBig W CEO Walks
By any measure the 0.2% fall in the Woolworths share price yesterday in the wake of the loss of the second CEO of its struggling Big W department store chain in a year, was a pretty muted reaction. The shares finished the day at $23.30.
Read MoreChina Tries To Curb Commodity Speculators
Traders and investors are bracing themselves for more volatility in Chinese commodity and financial markets after a week of wild swings.
Read MoreWesfarmers Looks To Sell Coal Mines
Wesfarmers (WES) has moved to get rid of its troublesome coal mining interests and become even more focused on its core retailing operations, with some industrial assets attached (and which look certain to be sold in 2017).
Read MoreWages Growth Stalls To All-Time Low
Australian wages growth continues to slow to record lows as unemployment runs at the moderate rate of 5.6%.
Read MoreRio Halts Hope Downs
Rio Tinto (RIO) shares will come under pressure today on the ASX after news emerged overnight that the miner will close one of its major WA iron ore mines over Christmas in an apparent cost-cutting exercise that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
Read MoreWhere Is Buffett Investing?
Retailing is out, airlines are in, and as we learned last week, Warren Buffett is staying with banks – specifically Wells Fargo.
Read MoreAdvertisers Tune Out Of Nine
Nine Entertainment (NEC) has joined its rival, Seven West Media (SWM) in forecasting continuing pressure in the TV advertising market for 2016-17. Nine’s annual shareholder meeting was told yesterday by CEO Hugh Marks that its metro free-to-air advertising revenue expected to suffer a low single-digit fall in the year to June 30, 2017.
Read MoreInvestors Brexit OzForex
Investors hammered shares in listed foreign exchange punter/provider OFX Group (OFX) yesterday after it confessed to having been caught up in the backwash of the surge in market volatility since the June 23 Brexit vote.
Read MoreJapan GDP Growth Beats Expectations
Japan saw a surprisingly upbeat report on third quarter GDP yesterday, which is good news for what still is our second most important export market.
Read MoreRainfall, Rural Real Estate Lifts Elders
A solid reaction in a falling market yesterday to the 2015-16 full year results from agribusiness group, Elders Ltd (ELD) which met earnings guidance for the year to September.
Read MoreChina Data Drop Holds Steady
China’s economy remains on track as real estate investment shows no sign of being slowed by the recent introduction of property buying curbs by more than 20 major cities.
Read MoreHills Unwinds Lincor Merger
Donald Trump’s win in the US presidential election, the resultant rise in market volatility and a dose of good old fashioned cold feet have combined to sink the proposed merger by Hills Limited (HIL) of its health solutions business with global firm Lincor.
Read MoreGlobal Markets Swing Higher
Markets will open quietly in Australia and Asia today after last week’s madcap Trump-inspired rally, which ran out of puff in trading in Europe and the US on Friday night.
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