• ASX down on Thursday, mainly on the back of plunging oil stocks
  • Energy related stocks down, lithium stocks higher
  • Chemist Warehouse to list on the ASX in a reverse takeover deal with Sigma Healthcare

 

Local shares shed -0.3% on Thursday, weighed down by the Energy sector after a plunge in crude prices overnight.

Oil prices fell by over -4% to a five-month low, with WTI crude trading below US$70 at US$69.24 a barrel.

Oil prices have been looking bearish since Moody’s downgraded its outlook for China’s government credit to negative from stable earlier this week.

Lithium stocks meanwhile rallied as China’s two biggest lithium producers, Tianqi Lithium and Ganfeng Lithium, closed up 6.5% and 7% respectively in Hong Kong yesterday.

Both stocks have extended their gains today, in a signal the market might be starting to get bullish again on lithium prices.

Iron ore miners also did well today, with giants Fortescue (ASX:FMG) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) up around 1% each as iron ore futures in Singapore held last night’s price of above $US130 per tonne.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that Elon Musk’s Space X has started discussions about selling insiders’ shares at a valuation of around US$175 billion. According to Bloomberg estimates, SpaceX is on track to book revenues of about US$9 billion this year across its rocket launch and Starlink businesses.

Across the region, stocks in Asia mainly dropped on concerns that lower oil prices might point to China’s economic health.

There are renewed worries about China’s debt burden after Moody’s Investors Service downgrade.

 

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Sigma Healthcare (ASX:SIG) will likely surge by almost 20% when the shares come out of trading halt.

A report by AFR yesterday suggested that Chemist Warehouse (CW) will be heading to the ASX in a reverse takeover deal with the Sigma. Sigma’s market cap sits at $785m while CW is reportedly valued at around $8bn.

Under a reverse takeover, a private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public by being bought out by a smaller company in an asset swap and share issuance deal.

Perpetual  (ASX:PPT) rose 7.5% after the financial house rejected a $1.3 billion takeover offer from diversified conglomerate, Washington H. Soul Pattinson (ASX:SOL). SOL’s price fell almost -3%.

GQG Partners (ASX:GQG) was up 1.5% after reporting that its funds under management (FUM) had increased from $103.9 billion in October to $112.6 billion in November.

Shares in Afterpay owner Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) rallied 3.5% after founder and CEO Jack Dorsey signalled that job cuts at the music streamer Tidal (which is owned by Block), are just the beginning of a planned reduction in Block Inc’s overall workforce.

 

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Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) was down -6% after announcing that it has successfully completed its book build to raise $205 million through a single tranche placement of newly issued shares.

Boss said the offer received strong demand from both existing shareholders as well as a number of new domestic and global institutional investors.

“It is a very exciting time for Boss Energy as it moves to become a multi-mine In-Situ Recovery (ISR) uranium producer by 1H 2024,” said Boss Energy’s boss, Duncan Craib.

“The proceeds will be used to drive Boss Energy’s multi-pronged growth strategy, with significant exploration spend and work towards expanding production capacity at Honeymoon.”

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