Australian stocks were down today, slipping 51.30 points or 0.62% to 8,244.70.
The worst performers were HMC Capital Ltd and Vault Minerals Ltd, down 13.40% and 8.00% respectively.
The index has lost 2.09% for the last five days but sits 3.17% below its 52-week high.
Consumer Staples and Financials were among the handful of sectors to buck the downward trend in mid-afternoon trade today, up by 0.10% and 0.17% respectively.
Real Estate was down 1.35%, Information Technology was down 0.99% and Materials was deeper in the red, slipping 2.04%.
ASIC takes HSBC to task
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has filed a claim in the Federal Court against HSBC's Australian arm, alleging it failed to adequately protect customers from a long-running "spoofing" scam.
The scam involved impersonation tactics designed to deceive customers into transferring funds to fraudulent accounts.
The corporate watchdog contends that 950 Australian customers collectively lost A$23 million to scammers between January 2020 and August 2024.
Some individuals suffered significant financial losses, with reports revealing that certain customers lost more than A$90,000 each.
ASIC alleges systemic failures in HSBC's fraud detection and response systems. It asserts that HSBC did not implement sufficient measures to prevent or address the scam, despite the high volume of reports.
HSBC has acknowledged the severity of the matter and pointed to its ongoing initiatives aimed at enhancing customer protection and mitigating risks associated with such fraudulent activities.
What will Santa bring investors?
Investors are sorting, clearing and being selective as the year draws to an end, writes moomoo Australia’s Jessica Amir.
“While they see the US Federal Reserve cutting rates by 0.25% this week, they’re bracing for fewer rate cuts in 2025 thanks to the stronger US economy.
“So investors are positioning for this by selling bonds, seeing yields rise to 4.4% – their highest level in a month.
“Other traders are buying the US dollar, believing Trump’s trade policies could keep the dollar higher for longer. And this pushed the dollar index to a month high.
“This concoction unnerved some equity investors and saw selling in Dow Jones 30 stocks such as Nvidia, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Salesforce, pressuring the blue-chip index to fall for the seventh day on Friday – its longest losing streak since 2020.
“Investors also continued to buy into stocks in the Nasdaq 100 that will likely do well under Trump, which is why Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) rose 4%, Marvel rose 11%, and Micron (NASDAQ:MU) followed. And this saw the pin-up tech index hit a new record high.”
Commodities weren’t seeing the same gains, though, with silver dragging the sector by 1.4%, while copper, gold, nickel and iron ore were all lower.
“Metal prices are not only being pressured by the higher US dollar but disappointing data out of China, showing banks are issuing far less loans than expected,” Amir said.
“But that narrative could change quickly if China cuts interest rates soon. It probably will too, which will delight commodity investors.”
Cyclone Metals up 48%
Cyclone Metals Ltd (ASX:CLE) was a strong mover in the small cap sector, rising as much as 48% from the previous close to $0.037, Magnetite Mines Ltd (ASX:MGT) hit a daily high of $0.145, an increase of 16%, and Sprintex Ltd (ASX:SIX) rose by 14% to a high of $0.057 on a new sales and distribution agreement in India.
Other gains were made by Lindian Resources Ltd (ASX:LIN, OTC:LINIF), which was up 8.24% to $0.092 on the back of signing a US$50 million term sheet, Empire Energy Group Ltd (ASX:EEG, OTC:EEGUF) reached $0.215, a rise of 7.5%, West Wits Mining Ltd (ASX:WWI, OTCQB:WMWWF) increased 7.2% to $0.015 on securing a new prospecting right adjacent to its WBP gold play in South Africa, NGX Ltd was 6.25% higher than its previous close at $0.17, Dynamic Metals Ltd (ASX:DYM) moved up 5.79% to $0.275 and Orthocell Ltd (ASX:OCC, OTC:ORHHF) hit a new record of $1.21, an increase of 5.68%.
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Building on its growing global footprint, Sprintex Ltd (ASX:SIX) has locked in a A$7 million exclusive distribution deal for its G Series Blowers in India.
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The one to watch
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