- The ASX was down by 0.60% on Friday, flattish for the week
- Energy was the only standout sector
- Looking ahead next week, Australian jobless rate on Thursday
The ASX 200 lost 0.60% on Friday, taking away all of the gains it’s made this week. Ten sectors out of 11 fell, leaving Energy as the only pallbearer with a gain of 1%.
Oil prices rallied by 1.5% overnight, but benchmark Brent crude is still holding on below US$100 at US$98.90 a barrel.
Surprisingly, the national average for a gallon of gas in the US has dropped below US$4 on Thursday – the first time since March.
Experts say they’re falling due to demand destruction, supporting the market credence that “the cure for high commodity prices is high commodity prices.”
Traders are hoping that the easing of inflation data in the US for July is just the beginning.
Fresh data Thursday has added resolve to those hopes. The Labor Department said Wednesday that the pace of consumer-price increases slowed in July.
“Inflation data is the really key determinant of market sentiment. Depending on how you cut the data, you can start to sell a more positive or negative story,” said Edward Park, chief investment officer at UK. investment firm Brooks Macdonald. While inflation data released Wednesday showed energy prices dropped, other goods and services still showed signs of elevation, he said.
Meanwhile, earnings season for ASX large caps continues.
Today, owner of NRMA, Insurance Australia (ASX:IAG), reported a swing to profit of $347m in FY22, after a net loss of $427m a year ago. The IAG share price rose by 0.75%.
Woolworths (ASX:WOW) meanwhile says it will go ahead with the Mydeal.com.au (ASX:MYD) acquisition after getting the all clear from competition watchdog, the ACCC.
Looking ahead next week, the market focus will on labour and wages data, with the unemployment rate locked in by the ABS for a Thursday release.
CBA forecasts the jobless rate to remain the same as the last reading of 3.5%.
BIG CAP WINNERS
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| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SMR | Stanmore Resources | 2.25 | 11% | 3,260,818 | $1,820,791,030 |
| VNT | Ventiaservicesgroup | 2.815 | 4% | 681,355 | $2,318,362,846 |
| OBL | Omni Bridgeway Ltd | 4.46 | 4% | 1,180,415 | $1,155,150,581 |
| WDS | Woodside Energy | 32.75 | 4% | 3,842,349 | $59,981,505,266 |
| DEG | De Grey Mining | 1.04 | 3% | 4,225,566 | $1,417,721,145 |
| GNE | Genesis Energy Ltd | 2.72 | 3% | 14,523 | $2,761,385,826 |
| CEN | Contact Energy Ltd | 7 | 3% | 13,223 | $1,679,419,452 |
| HGH | Heartland Group | 1.93 | 3% | 27 | $1,108,730,143 |
| NHC | New Hope Corporation | 4.385 | 3% | 2,532,542 | $3,537,517,599 |
| BPT | Beach Energy Limited | 1.8425 | 3% | 4,620,880 | $4,094,993,913 |
| CGC | Costa Group Holdings | 2.8 | 3% | 854,400 | $1,268,211,852 |
| GQG | GQG Partners | 1.6475 | 2% | 2,307,552 | $4,754,016,749 |
Stanmore Resources (ASX:SMR) jumped 10% after slamming US$380 million down on the table to buy the remaining 20% of the South Walker Creek and Poitrel coal mines from Japanese trading giant Mitsui.
Stanmore reported that it generated US$232.7m profit in the first half after buying 80% of the asset from BHP in May.
BIG CAP LOSERS
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| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LKE | Lake Resources | 1.385 | -13% | 2,127,333 | $14,633,591,672 |
| NVX | Novonix Limited | 3.01 | -8% | 286,843 | $6,382,485,618 |
| TLX | Telix Pharmaceutical | 7.49 | -7% | 90,204 | $4,754,476,466 |
| AGY | Argosy Minerals Ltd | 0.41 | -7% | 164,603 | $4,109,723,191 |
| PBH | Pointsbet Holdings | 3.545 | -7% | 15,304,361 | $3,946,005,356 |
| ARF | Arena REIT. | 4.47 | -6% | 12,333,438 | $2,528,364,035 |
| NAN | Nanosonics Limited | 4.83 | -6% | 522,313 | $2,288,956,607 |
| MP1 | Megaport Limited | 8.335 | -6% | 1,642,845 | $2,246,882,970 |
| DMP | Domino Pizza Enterpr | 69.6 | -6% | 51,005,174 | $2,216,628,770 |
| ASM | Ausstratmaterials | 4.19 | -5% | 1,638,989 | $1,881,485,970 |
| LTR | Liontown Resources | 1.7075 | -5% | 1,868,960 | $1,656,586,885 |
| SDR | Siteminder | 3.94 | -5% | 6,559,244 | $1,591,443,286 |
| BBN | Baby Bunting Grp Ltd | 4.63 | -5% | 136,201 | $1,567,001,125 |
| CHN | Chalice Mining Ltd | 4.77 | -5% | 340,726 | $1,548,414,212 |
| SQ2 | Block | 120.98 | -4% | 565,123 | $1,443,155,469 |
| PNI | Pinnacle Investment | 10.99 | -4% | 1,246,157 | $1,396,490,301 |
| DYL | Deep Yellow Limited | 0.81 | -4% | 1,052,622 | $1,159,613,993 |
| CQE | Charter Hall Soc In | 3.78 | -4% | 550,355 | $1,127,943,884 |
Sleep disorder device company Resmed (ASX:RMD) fell 2% despite increasing its Q4 revenue by 4% on pcp to $914.7 million.
For the full year, Resmed’s revenue increased by 12% to $3.6 billion. Gross margin grew 110 bps to 57.1%, and diluted earnings per share was $5.30.
Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) rose 13% on no news, reversing all the gains it made yesterday.