Market Update & Important Indicators:
U.S. stocks inched lower Friday, ending the week little changed, as White House comments on monetary policy sent the dollar and government bond prices sliding. Major indexes struggled to break higher throughout the week as investors parsed dozens of earnings reports and rebukes from President Donald Trump on Federal Reserve policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell less than 0.1% on Friday, rising 0.2% for the week. The S&P 500 fell 0.1% on the day and added less than 0.1% for the week, while the Nasdaq Composite edged down less than 0.1% on the day and advanced less than 0.1% for the week. Even as uncertainty around trade and monetary policy has weighed on the markets this year, analysts and investors say upbeat earnings and economic data are helping them remain cautiously optimistic. S&P 500 firms are on track to report their second fastest pace of earnings growth since 2010 for the second quarter, according to FactSet, pointing to sustained momentum in the U.S. even as growth elsewhere around the world has faltered. The US gold price gained 0.8% to record 1231.5 US$/oz.
European stocks fell, with auto shares among those that lost ground. On national indexes, Germany's DAX 30 index slumped 1%, hurt in part by auto makers. France's CAC 40 fell 0.4%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index turned lower, finishing down by 0.1%. Italy's FTSE MIB lost 0.4%, In Madrid, the IBEX 35 reversed course and ended up by 3.70 points. Overall, the Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.2% as the basic materials group put in the worst performance. Health-care and consumer-goods stocks led advancers. For the week, the index rose by 0.2%, marking its third consecutive weekly gain.
Things weren't looking good for Asia Pacific stocks after modest early gains for markets in the eastern rim, with China and Hong Kong falling upwards of 1% early Friday to extend their recent woes. But investors in both markets decided to start buying in the afternoon, as a rebounding yuan also boosted sentiment. As such, big-cap Chinese indexes rose some 2%, with the Hang Seng up 0.8% at the close. They added to day-long strength in Taiwan and helped Japan's Nikkei erase much of the slide seen when China and Hong Kong opened. The Nikkei finished down 0.3%.
Held back by miners from notching another decade high, Australia's stock benchmark nonetheless logged a solid week after a third-straight rise on Friday. After peaking early, the S&P/ASX 200 settled into a range and closed up 0.4% at 6285.9 on broad strength. It rose 0.3% for the week after dipping fewer than four points last week. The materials sector lagged on commodity-price weakness, falling just over 1% for the day and week. But the major banks had another positive session, helping the financials to a 1% weekly advance. Energy stocks recovered 0.9% Friday to narrow the week's drop to 2.2% after the early-week oil-price slump.
Base metal prices were mostly up on the London Metal Exchange. Aluminium increased 1.8% to 2,079/t, the 3-month copper contract gained 1.4% to 6,123/t. Zinc was 1% higher to close at 2,618/t. Lead added 0.9% to end at 2,116/t, and nickel recorded 1.4% increase to 13,437/t.
In this issue:
Botanix Pharmaceuticals Ltd | (BOT)
Market Cap $75.7mm | Current Price $0.10 | Valuation $0.20
BOT has received funding from the Australian Government to undertake a research collaboration with the University of Queensland Institute for Molecular Bioscience to study the effectiveness of its Cannabidiol (CBD) based compound, BTX 1801, as an antimicrobial agent with a particular focus on drug-resistant bacteria. If the research project has a positive outcome, the impact on BOT could be material as drug-resistant bacteria in skin disease is a major issue because very few new compounds have been developed to combat the mounting resistance bacteria have to current treatments. We maintain our Speculative Buy recommendation and a $0.20 valuation.
Recent Contacts & Presentations:
Bowen Coking Coal (BCB), Birimian (BGS), Breaker Resources (BRB), Galena Mining (G1A), Valmec (VMX),Bryah Resources (BYH), Calima Energy (CE1) Genesis Minerals (GMD), Agrimin (AMN), Magnetic Resources (MAU), Core Exploration (CXO), Marindi Metals (MZN), MOD Resources (MOD), Santos (STO), Adriatic Metals (ADT) Bio–Gene Technology (BGT), Walkabout Resources (WKT), Triton Minerals (TON), Calima Energy (CE1), Peel Mining (PEX), Catalyst Metals (CYL), Vault Intelligence (VLT), Doray Minerals (DRM), Nzuri Coppoer (NZC), Bowen Coking Coal (BCB), Phosphagenics Limited (POH) Great Boulder Resources (GBR), Orthocell (OCC), Northern Minerals (NTU), ABM Resources Ltd (ABU), Vital Metals Ltd (VML), Todd River Resources Ltd (TRT), Pacific Energy Ltd (PEA), Carnarvon Petroleum Ltd (CVN), Australian Mines Ltd (AUZ), Australian Finance Group (AFG), Paladin Energy Ltd (PDN), Cooper Energy Ltd (COE), Medibio Ltd (MEB), Botanix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (BOT), Salt Lake Potash Ltd (SO4), Golden Mile Resources Ltd (G88), NTM Gold Ltd (NTM), Ausmex Mining Group Ltd (AMG), Matrix C&E Ltd (MCE), Austal Ltd (ASB), Decmil Group Ltd (DCG), Ventnor Resources Ltd, Ausdrill Ltd (ASL), Alice Queen Ltd (AQX), PNX Metals Ltd (PNX), Alliance Resources Ltd (AGS), Myanmar Metals Ltd (MYL), Primary Gold Ltd (PGO), Sino Gas & Energy Holdings Ltd (SHE)
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