• The ASX finished flat on Friday, up around half percent for the week
  • Mining stocks drag, along with QBE Insurance which warned of a higher profit
  • Twitter will soon have a new CEO

 

The ASX200 index finished flat on Friday as gains in healthcare and tech stocks were offset by losses in energy and mining. For the week, the index was up around half a percent.

QBE Insurance(ASX:QBE) slipped 4% after reporting gross written premium growth of 11% vs the pcp.

The nation’s biggest insurer by market cap did however warn that winter storms in the US and flooding in Australia could result in an additional $190 million profit hit.

Mining stocks were mainly down after base metals and iron ore prices fell overnight. Spot iron ore is now trading below US$100 a tonne.

Medibank Private (ASX:MPL) dropped almost 1% after announcing that the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) will proceed with the investigation on the complaint lodged by Maurice Blackburn last November, in relation to the cybercrime theft of Medibank data.

 

Twitter’s new CEO

Elon Musk announced that Twitter has a new CEO, NBC Universal’s current head of advertising, Linda Yaccarino.

Yaccarino is known in the industry as an “advertisement powerhouse”, and has been a loud voice in industry discussions about the effectiveness of advertising.

Closer to home, a new research released by the RBA shows that there’s only a 50% chance that inflation can be reduced to below 3% without triggering a recession.

The RBA said it will be difficult for governor Philip Lowe to execute what he called the “narrow path” where inflation returns to 2% without a large rise in unemployment.

“If a recession does occur, it is most likely sometime over the next four quarters,” the research suggested.

The bank also suggested there’s a 40 to 70% chance of said recession arriving by September this year.

 

BIG CAP WINNERS

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Property listings portal REA Group (ASX:REA) climbed 1% despite reporting revenue falls of 3% to $269 million in Q3.

News Corp (ASX:NWS) rallied 4.5% after releasing its Q3 earnings which saw revenues of $2.45 billion, a 2% decrease from the pcp. Around $98 million of that decrease was due to foreign currency fluctuations. Most of the revenue was probably due to Stockhead.

Nanosonics (ASX:NAN) rose 3% after announcing the resignation of Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary, McGregor Grant after 12 years in the role.

 

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) dropped 3% after reporting a successful $70 million private placement to major institutions. Upon completion of this placement, Chalice is forecast to have cash on hand of ~$150 million.

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