The ASX had a slow start to the year, gaining just 0.75% over the last five days (number correct at time of writing on Friday).
The Hang Seng continued its upward momentum from last year, gaining 6.64% this week, and the FTSE 100 was also in the green, up 1.61%.
The rest of the indices weren’t so rosy; the Nasdaq shed 1.65%, the S&P 500 lost 1.07% and the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.06% since the new year.
The ASX sectors were led down by down by Health Care (-2.54%) and Energy (-2.47%) but buoyed by a 3.87% lift in Materials and a similar 3.07% improvement for Consumer Discretionary.
Commodities were a mixed bag; platinum (+2.53%), gold (+1.78%) and tin (+1.72%) gained, while West Texas crude took a 6.07% hit (down 4.22% for the last year) and aluminium fell 5.52%.
Aussies rank no.6 in countries most obsessed with stocks
Australian interest in the stock market has increased drastically over the last five years; in 2017 an online survey found only 25% of people had invested in shares, compared to 46% this year.
The increased interest has placed Australia at number 6 in a study completed by UK financial services provider CMC Markets https://www.cmcmarkets.com/en-gb/.
The study used search terms related to stocks and trading to assess overall trends among English-speaking countries, combining the data to produce a ‘total search score’ for each country.
Singapore topped the list, with a particular interest in buying stocks and current interest rates, while India, Canada, the US and the United Arab Emirates finished out the top 5.
Interestingly, Australia topped the world for searches involving “day trading” worldwide, indicating many punters may be wading into the deep waters of short-term security trading.
While interest rates have likely spooked many would-be traders already, it’s good to remember only about 1-20% of day traders actually turn a profit.
The top ten were rounded out by South Africa, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Nigeria.
The Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) sell-off was sharp, but is it still overpriced?
Matt Simpson, senior market analyst for City Index, questions whether the Tesla sell-off has gone far enough.
“While it is true that Tesla’s share price has been decimated over the last 12 months, falling from highs of US$383 this time last year to US$108 as I write, speculators still have the company trading at a price to earnings (PE) multiple of over 33 times.
“For this price to be justified, traders must consider where the exponential growth that remains priced in will come from.
“For perspective, traditional auto makers do not enjoy these speculative price levels – Toyota trades at a PE multiple of 9 times, and the world’s largest automaker, Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG_p), trades at just under 5 times.
“If we take a look back at what fuelled the price of Tesla in the last few years, it is true that the company enjoyed considerable first-mover advantage in the pure EV market, with its market share of the space finishing 2022 at around 65%.
“But with such a large market share already and deliveries of vehicles missing expectations, traders must consider whether further rationalisation could see additional price adjustments for the now-mature automaker, as it gets off to a rocky start in 2023.
“For now, the best chance the stock has for a rally is if Musk were to step aside as CEO of Twitter and regain his focus on Tesla.”
Small cap wins for the week
Lindian Resources soars 48.28%
Lindian Resources Ltd (ASX:LIN) shares surged 48.28% this week, buoyed by rare earth assays from its Kangankunde Project in Malawi which were described as “outstanding”.
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Alkane Resources surges 22.42%
Alkane Resources Ltd (ASX:ALK) shares jumped 22.42% on news the company had lifted gold production guidance estimates to 62,000-70,000 ounces.
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Tietto Minerals leaps 13.82%
Tietto Minerals Ltd (ASX:TIE) shares lifted this week, on news the Abujar Project is set to pour first gold within 10 days, and that wet commissioning of the plant has begun.
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Piedmont Lithium (NASDAQ:PLL) jumps 13.17%
Piedmont Lithium Inc (ASX:PLL, NASDAQ:PLL, XETRA:) shares went 13.17% into the green this week, buoyed by an amendment to a Tesla offtake deal which will position Piedmont to supply the US automaker with spodumene concentrate (SC6) from North American Lithium (NAL).
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