Market Update & Important Indicators:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average pulled back from the elusive 20000 mark, after getting closer than ever Friday. The blue-chip index fell 0.3% ahead of Monday's close. The S&P 500 declined 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.3%. The Dow industrials had risen to within one point of the next thousand-point milestone on Friday before retreating slightly. It was the best week for the index since Dec. 9, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite closed at fresh highs. Many investors and analysts say they expect volatility to pick up in the coming months, when details about President-elect Donald Trump's prospective policies — including tax cuts and fiscal stimulus — become clearer. Some investors have dialled back on popular post-election trades in recent weeks.
Asia's biggest stock indexes finished broadly higher Monday, as major markets in the region caught a further uplift from end-of-week gains in the U.S. The advance also follows strength last week in the region, where the Hang Seng saw its biggest weekly gain in three months and the Shanghai Composite snapped a five-week losing streak. But some emerging markets showed declines, with indexes in Indonesia and Malaysia down less 0.6% and 0.3%, respectively, amid a continued rebound for the dollar versus the yen. That could weigh on Japan stocks when they resume trading Tuesday after a national holiday if the rebounding greenback maintains its gains in U.S. activity. Elsewhere, Korea's Kospi finished generally flat while Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.2% amid gains in gaming stocks as the market continues to reverse its pre-Christmas slide. The Hang Seng is now up seven of the past eight sessions. Also helping Monday was Friday's U.S. good-enough jobs report, which resulted in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hitting record closing highs. China stocks also gained as Reuters reported Guangxi province will investment $5.8 billion from local pension funds in financial markets for the first time. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.5% after last week notching its first weekly gain since November.
Australian shares continued to rally Monday, hitting a 19-month high as strong gains by banks and oil-and-gas producers offset weakness among mining stocks. The latest advance came after U.S. stocks extended their post-election push higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average moving to within one point of the 20000 level. Rising for a fifth straight session, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 51.8 points, or 0.9%, to 5807.4. That marks its highest level since May 2015, and a 13% jump for the index since Nov. 9. The country's four largest banks helped drive broad gains and collectively added more than 20 points to the ASX 200, while energy stocks were buoyed after oil prices notched a fourth consecutive week of gains on Friday. Still, the materials sector ended modestly weaker after the spot iron-ore price dropped at the end of last week.
The London Metal Exchange's three-month copper contract settled near flat at $5,591/t. Other base metals closed higher, with aluminium up 0.8% at $1,735/t, zinc up 1.8% at $2,647/t, tin up 0.4% at $21,160/t, nickel up 1.4% at $10,338/t and lead up 2.5% at $2,092/t.
Thought of the day:
Mining Services
Interims Preview – Where to now?
We had Hold calls on all our covered resource-exposed industrials by end August 2016. This followed the earnings reporting season and a period of strong share price gains. Since then all except GNG have been upgraded to Buy, largely on the back of share price pull-backs. Valuation and recommendation discipline is needed in a volatile sector where share price growth and earnings growth often diverge.
Recent Contacts & Presentations:
Emmerson Resources Ltd (ERM), Syntonic Ltd (SYT), MZI Resources Ltd (MZI), Resolute Mining Ltd (RSG), Capricorn Metals Ltd (CMM), Eve Investments Ltd (EVE), Australian Mines Ltd (AUZ), Heron Resources Ltd (HRR), St George Mining Ltd (SGQ), Threat Protect Australia Ltd (TPS), Paringa Resources Ltd (PNL), The Gruden Group Ltd (GGL), Primary Gold Ltd (PGO), Vault Intelligence Ltd (VLT), Botanix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (BOT) Orthocell Ltd (OCC), Strandline Resources Ltd (STA) Dragontail Systems Ltd (DTS), ABM Resources Ltd (ABU), Acacia Coal Ltd (AJC), Troy Resources Ltd (TRY), Hazer Group Ltd (HZR), Berkeley Energia Ltd (BKY), Sino Gas & Energy Holdings Ltd (SEH)
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