• The ASX 50 drops 1.50% and ASX 200 loses 1.46%
  • ABS say unemployment rate fell to 3.5% for February following two months of consecutive falls
  • Labour force data is one of four economic data points the RBA uses when looking at rate hikes

 

Aussie shares finished lower today, with the ASX50 dropping 1.50% and the ASX 200 down 1.46%. 

Only 2 of the underlying sectors are higher and 9 are lower, with the Health Care sector rallying by 1.49%, while Energy lost a whopping 4.77%.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 3.5 per cent in February, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

“With employment increasing by around 65,000 people, and the number of unemployed decreasing by 17,000 people, the unemployment rate fell to 3.5 per cent,” ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said.

“This was back to the level we saw in December.”

Jarvis said the February increase in employment follows consecutive falls in December and January. 

“In January, this reflected a larger than usual number of people waiting to start a new job, the majority of whom returned to or commenced their jobs in February,” he added.

“This was particularly evident in the South-East of Australia, with larger than seasonal numbers of people entering into employment across New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT.”

Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe recently said that labour force figures would be one of four key economic data points the RBA would be looking at before deciding on another rate rise at its board meeting next month.

It remains to be seen whether growing concerns over a global banking crisis might have any impact.

 

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The biggest winner was Pushpay (ASX:PPH) after major shareholders at the BNPL stock agreed to a new improved takeover offer of NZ$1.42 a share – a 6% bump on the previous offer.

The company’s non-conflicted directors unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favour of the scheme, in the absence of a superior proposal. 

De Grey Mining (ASX:DEG) says resource definition drilling at Brolga zone at Hemi has allowed more of the Brolga resource to be classified as JORC Indicated mineralisation – which increases the potential reserve for the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) of the Mallina gold project and provides increased confidence in the project’s projected cashflow from early production sources. 

Production from the Stage 1 starter pit at Brolga in the PFS was estimated to be 20Mt at 1.7g/t Au at a strip ratio of 2.3:1 and production from the zone  is a key factor in the payback period of the project of less than two years.

“The new results will be incorporated in an updated resource estimate for the DFS currently in progress and scheduled for completion mid-2023,” general manager exploration Phil Tornatora said.

“Resource definition drilling at the Hemi deposits is nearing completion. 

“Exploration will now focus on exploration aimed at making new discoveries and increasing resources, in both the Hemi district and Regional areas of the Mallina Gold Project.” 

And Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:TLX) has nabbed US FDA approval for a supplementary New Drug Application (sNDA) for Illuccix, a kit for the preparation of gallium Ga 68 gozetotide injection.

The approval was this time given for the use of Illuccix on patients with metastatic prostate cancer, for whom lutetium-177 (177Lu) PSMA-directed therapy is indicated.

To qualify for radioligand therapy, the FDA said patients must be imaged with an approved gallium-based PSMA-PET agent.

This expansion means Illuccix can now be used in the US to identify and select patients who are candidates for the only FDA-approved prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-directed radioligand therapy (Pluvicto).

It is estimated that 32,000 patients per year in the US may be considered for PSMA-directed radioligand therapy.

  

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