Weekly Wrap

Thanks to ongoing subsidies, China's new energy vehicle (NEV) sales reached another record high in September, surpassing the previous month's peak.

German footwear giant Birkenstock and its private equity owner, L Catterton, have successfully completed their IPO, pricing shares at $US46 each, firmly positioning the iconic sandal maker on the American stock market. This move marks the fourth significant test of the US IPO market this month and underscores the strong investor appetite for new opportunities.

Oil prices experienced a significant decline of more than $1 a barrel on Tuesday, extending a downward trend that began earlier in the day.

Despite ongoing record sales of battery-powered vehicles in China, the US, and Europe, lithium prices continue to slide globally due to falling prices and excess supply in China.

On Tuesday, US 10-year bond yields surged to 4.80%, marking a new 16-year high. Investors, both large and small, were gripped by worry over rising interest rates, increasing inflation, and Federal Reserve actions, according to market reports.

Gold continues to be the chief victim of market panic about rates and the Fed's "higher for longer" policy approach.

The Federal Reserve's commitment to maintaining higher borrowing costs for an extended period threatens the fragile balance sheets of smaller enterprises.

Chariot Corporation, soon to be ASX-listed next month, is making waves in the US lithium market.

The Reserve Bank is unlikely to make any hasty decisions during its upcoming meeting next week, despite a mixed bag of news from the August consumer inflation report.

While oil prices remained resilient against a strong US dollar and rising bond yields, gold investors panicked, causing Comex futures prices to dip below $1,900 per ounce.

A critical US oil town, Cushing, Oklahoma, is grappling with a dire oil shortage that is sending shockwaves through energy markets, pushing US oil prices above $94 per barrel for the first time since August 2022.

To much surprise, The Bank of England leaves it's key interest rate unchanged.

The lithium market has witnessed a sharp downturn this week, with spot prices continuing their decline from the late-2022 peak.

Fonterra, the world's largest dairy company, reported a record net profit of $NZ1.6 billion on Thursday, signaling substantial gains in milk, cheese, and other dairy products.

This is set to become a regular news item in the coming years—a major car parts manufacturer attributing the closure of a factory, or even multiple factories, to the rising popularity of electric vehicles (EVs), resulting in the loss of hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs.

The deepening split between A2 Milk (ASX:A2M) and Synlait, its key infant formula supplier, wiped tens of millions of dollars off the market value of both companies on Monday when Synlait escalated the argument.

Costa Group's private equity pursuer, Paine Schwartz Partners, has now tabled a 'non-binding' offer of $3.20 per share for Australia's leading fruit and vegetable supplier.

Uranium prices have skyrocketed to their highest levels in 12 years, reflecting a worldwide revival in nuclear power as energy utilities rush to secure fuel supplies.

Is Barrick Gold on track to double its annual copper production by 2031, or should it have aimed higher and pursued a major merger in the copper industry instead of incremental expansions and a significant project in Pakistan?