Trading was brisk today on the local bourse, with the ASX 200 up 38.30 points or 0.53% to 7,213.60 and crossing above its 20-day moving average at the half-way point in the day’s trade.
Over the last five days, the index has gained 1.28% and is currently 4.68% off its 52-week high.
All sectors were up today – Utilities (2.49%), Energy (2.06%) and Information Technology (1.72%) were the best performers, with Health Care straggling at 0.04%.
Energy giant AGL was riding high after it announced a massive profit upgrade.
Close to midday, we saw the following snapshot across the board:
- On Wall St: Dow +1.2%, S&P 500 +1.2%, Nasdaq +1.1%
- In Europe: Stoxx50 -0.1%, FTSE +0.3%, DAX -0.1%
- Australian dollar: flat at 68.83 US cents
- Spot gold: -0.01% at $US1,970.80/ounce
- Brent crude: Unchanged at $US75.67/barrel
- Iron ore: +0.8% to $US113.30 a tonne
- Bitcoin: +2.1% at $US25,639
NZ enters a technical recession
Elsewhere in the world, New Zealand has now officially entered dictionary-definition recession territory. Our neighbour’s most recent economic data shows that the economy has contracted over two consecutive quarters.
Retail spending across New Zealand is down, and indicators show private consumption generally has been falling in recent months, while NZ's business credit defaults are up 13% since last year.
Stats NZ recently released the first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data, showing a continuation of the economic trend observed since December.
New Zealand's GDP had declined by 0.7% by the end of last year, and in the first quarter of this year, it experienced a further 0.1% decrease.
Although this figure may appear small, additional indicators suggest that New Zealand is entering a period of prolonged economic contraction, likely extending beyond six months.
NZ last faced a ‘technical’ recession – two consecutive quarters of negative growth – during the pandemic, but that was obviously different, with harsh lockdowns in place and the border closed.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) acknowledged the deliberate policy-induced slowdown in New Zealand's economy following a robust post-pandemic recovery.
The difference now is that households and businesses face financial hardship without the COVID-19 narrative to explain the situation.
The focus is now on managing the slowdown while considering measures to support households and stimulate economic growth in the future.
And across the ditch, the hope is that Australia isn’t going to follow shortly behind.
European rates hiked again
In Europe, the Central Bank seemed wholly unconcerned about the risk of recession in the bloc of 20 countries, and unbothered by the Fed’s decision to pause rates in the US, raising interest rates by 25 basis points on Thursday and flagging more pain on the horizon.
This marks the eighth consecutive rise and takes the benchmark rate in the Euro zone to 3.5%, a 22-year record.
ECB President Christine Lagarde said another rate hike in July was “very likely,” while the ECB said in a statement: “Inflation has been coming down but is projected to remain too high for too long.”
The Five at Five
Lithium Energy doubles graphite inventory with maiden Corella resource estimate
Lithium Energy Ltd (ASX:LEL) has drastically increased its total graphite inventory in Queensland, doubling its held resources to 2.6 million tonnes of contained graphite with the addition of a maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) from the Corella Graphite Project.
Read more
Kaiser Reef's A1 Gold mine uplifts production after major mine and mill improvements
Kaiser Reef Ltd (ASX:KAU) has increased production, with monthly ore mining rates targeting 4,000 to 5,000 tonnes per month at its A1 Gold mine and Maldon Processing Facility in Eastern Victoria.
Read more
Dynamic Metals bolsters lithium pipeline with new licence at Widgiemooltha Project
Dynamic Metals Ltd (ASX:DYM) has added about seven kilometres of highly prospective nickel exploration land to its Widgiemooltha Project in Western Australia’s Goldfields region.
Read more
Global Lithium Resources inks land access agreement to fast-track Manna
Global Lithium Resources Ltd (ASX:GL1) has signed a land access agreement with the Kakarra Part B native title claim group, paving the way to accelerate exploration at its Manna Lithium Project in Western Australia’s Goldfields.
Read more
Incannex Healthcare appoints principal investigators for obstructive sleep apnoea trial featuring IHL-42X
Incannex Healthcare Ltd (ASX:IHL, NASDAQ:IXHL) has appointed two highly experienced lead principal investigators (PIs) for its Phase 2/3 clinical trial of IHL-42X, a treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), Dr John D Hudson of FutureSearch Trials of Neurology in Austin, Texas, and Dr Russell Rosenberg of Neurotrials Research Inc in Atlanta, Georgia.
Read more
On your six
M&A activity builds in the copper sector as its role in green energy grows
Annual global copper demand will nearly double from 25 million to roughly 50 million tons by 2035. That’s the conclusion made by S&P Global Market Intelligence and it’s no surprise really, when you consider demand is being driven by the red metal’s central role in the green energy transition.
Read more
The one to watch
Prescient Therapeutics showcases cell therapy data at prestigious ISCT conference
Prescient Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:PTX) CEO Steven Yatomi-Clarke updates Proactive’s Elisha Newell after the biotech showcased pre-clinical CellPryme and OmniCAR data at the International Society of Cell and Gene Therapy (ISCT)’s annual meeting.
Read more