Market Update & Important Indicators:
The election-fuelled stock rally moderated this week, with major U.S. indexes retreating from near records Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite all posted weekly gains, but smaller than those just after the election. The Dow industrials posted a 0.1% weekly gain Friday after the previous week's 5.4% rise was its best since 2011. The blue-chip index slipped 0.2% Friday as investors' rush into industrial companies waned. Such firms helped boost the Dow industrials after the election of Donald Trump sparked expectations of increased government spending. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% Friday but was up 0.8% over the week. Big banks, buoyed by bets on rising interest rates and loosened regulation after the election, continued to rise. Through Thursday's close, the S&P 500 was up 2.2% from Nov. 8. Excluding financials, the S&P 500 would be up 0.9% in that period, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Stocks across Europe finished lower as commodity and bank shares lost ground, with indexes in Spain and Italy taking a hammering. The Stoxx Europe 600 ended 0.4% lower at 339.39, led by declines among utility, oil and gas, basic materials and telecom shares. Despite that, the pan-European benchmark still notched a weekly advance of 0.6%. The index on Thursday added 0.6%, finishing at a nearly three-week high. Germany's DAX 30 logged a smaller loss than other European indexes, closing down 0.2% at 10,664.56.
Japan's Nikkei entered bull market territory on Friday, with a weaker yen helping drive gains across key Asian markets as robust U.S. economic data buoyed expectations of an interest-rate increase next month. The Nikkei Stock Average closed up 0.6% at 17967.41 points, up 20% from its recent low in June and having hit a ten-month high earlier in the session. The Wall Street Journal and many other market watchers call it a bull market when stocks rise 20% off a low point. Elsewhere, the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was last up 0.4%, and Singapore's FTSE Straits Times Index was last up 0.8%. The Nikkei was the second Asian stock index to enter a bull market so far this month, with the Shanghai Composite Index rising 20% from a January low last Friday. The mainland Chinese index ended Friday down 0.5%. Japan's finance minister on Friday said the yen's recent weakening was a sign of stability returning to the markets, welcoming a reversal in the currency's uptrend sparked by Donald Trump's win in the U.S. presidential election.
Australian shares ended higher Friday, fuelled by gains in the U.S. where data pointed to a stronger economy. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 0.4% or 20.9 points at 5359.4 amid signs of an improving housing market in the U.S., rising consumer prices and a more robust labour market. Meanwhile, there were bullish comments from UBS about the outlook for Australia's economy. Its economists predicted Australia's economic growth will strengthen further to 3.0% in 2017 after growing 2.9% in 2016. Improving commodity prices, if sustained, would help to reverse the negative income shock for the economy experienced in recent years and underpin a modestly higher trajectory for inflation, UBS added.
The London Metal Exchange's three-month copper contract settled down 1.3% at $5,423/t. Aluminium prices rose 0.7% to $1,708/t, zinc rose 0.2% at $2,523/t and tin closed up 0.4% at $20,420/t. Nickel fell 3.6% to $10,800/t and lead fell 1.3% to $2,127/t.
In this Issue:
Cradle Resources (CXX) | Panda Hill – Rare Species | SPEC BUY
Market Cap $41m | Current Price $0.24 | Target Price $0.44
Cradle Resources (CXX) is developing the Panda Hill Niobium project in Tanzania (JV: CXX 50%, Tremont Investments 50%). The project is well advanced having completed a DFS in April 2016 and now entering the tendering phase for key works including mining, infrastructure earthworks, camp construction and mechanical equipment. Debt financing and off-take negotiations are also underway. Argonaut sees CXX as a likely takeover target given the recent acquisitions of niobium mines. We regard Panda Hill as the best undeveloped niobium project globally, with a high grade open pittable Reserve (20.6Mt @ 0.68% Nb2O5) accesses to key infrastructure and near term production potential.
Recent Contacts & Presentations:
BC Iron Limited (BCI), ALT Resources Ltd (ARS), Gascoyne Resources Ltd (GCY), Dacian Gold (DCN), Orocobre Ltd (ORE), Alchemy Resources Ltd (ALY), Acacia Coal Ltd (AJC), Minotaur Exploration Ltd (MEP), Northern Minerals Ltd (NTU), Walkabout Resources Ltd (WKT), Antipa Minerals Ltd (AZY), Noxopharm Limited (NOX), Botanix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (BOT), Emerald Resources NL (EMR), Metals of Africa Ltd (MTA), Stavely Minerals Ltd (SVY), Australis Oil & Gas Ltd (ATS), Davenport Resources Ltd (DAV), TFS Corporation Limited (TFC), Emmerson Resources Ltd (ERM), Syntonic Ltd (SYT), MZI Resources Ltd (MZI), Resolute Mining Ltd (RSG), Orthocell Ltd (OCC)
Please read Argonaut's Important Disclaimers & disclosures
