New Resistance
I had queried the futures being down -26 points yesterday morning, given Wall Street selling was all about Big Tech, and sure enough after a brief drop the ASX200 surged through the 7100 mark late morning.
There followed a very long pause for thought, followed by some late selling to ensure the index closed safely just under 7100. Bit scary up there near all-time highs. Maybe a new assault will need to be planned.
All the action was in healthcare (+1.0%), materials (+0.8%) and the banks (+0.6%). Offset was provided by technology (-1.1%), which was simply following the Nasdaq.
It was a busy day in bank land. ANZ Bank ((ANZ)) reported results that would be exceptional, in both earnings and dividend terms, if it were not cycling the original lockdown a year ago and a regulatory suspension/slashing of dividends. The market clearly expected more, hence ANZ shares fell -3.2%.
Trolley Wars
The ASX200 opened strongly yesterday but fell to be only up 7 late morning. At lunchtime it hit a high of up 32, approaching 7100, but slipped again to close up 17.
The index continues to hold above 7000 but is struggling for any conviction to push higher. That lack of conviction is underscored by recent volumes being to the low side. Perhaps we’re all waiting for the May budget to spark some life into the market, or not.
Meanwhile, the focus has been on the flood of corporate quarterly updates. This week the big supermarkets have been in focus.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that one of the two majors will be performing better for a period than the other, before those roles reverse for a time, and later back again. For a long time Woolworths ((WOW)) was leaving Coles ((COL)) in its dust until Coles spun out of Wesfarmers and hit the front thanks to aged rock stars and Little Shop landfill.
Zero Rates Forever!
Anyone in the Australian market who’d been having sleepless nights worrying about inflation slept like a baby last night. Annual core inflation, which informs the RBA’s cash rate policy, fell to a
record low in the March quarter.
What was all the fuss about?
Headline inflation rose by 0.6% quarter on quarter having risen 0.9% in the December quarter. The market had forecast another 0.9%. The annual headline rate rose to 1.1% from 0.9%, when forecasts were for 1.4%. Higher fuel costs were offset by a big fall in electricity prices, which seemed to catch economists out.
Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose by 0.3% having risen by 0.4% in December. Forecasts were for 0.5%. The annual rate
Same Old, Same Old
A slight gain on Wall Street overnight had our futures pointing up 6 points yesterday morning but the ASX200 had other ideas. A slight gain from the open was immediately slapped down to a -40 points drop by late morning.
There the index drew close to 7000 support which prompted a steady recovery to regain most of those losses. Barring anything left of field, 7000 looks like a sturdy safety net for now, but upside drivers remain elusive.
Not so for the big miners, with record iron prices (and again last night) ensuring a 0.7% gain for the materials sector to largely be the saviour on the day. The banks and energy sat it out leaving a modest 0.2% gain in utilities to be the only other positive contributor.