Market Update & Important Indicators:
U.S. stocks rose intraday as investors cheered what is shaping up to be a strong corporate-earnings season. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose or 0.8%. The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was roughly unchanged, giving up its earlier gains. With the earnings-reporting season about a fifth of the way through, the vast majority of S&P 500 companies have posted stronger-than-expected earnings and revenue, according to FactSet. Earnings from U.S. companies have been "unparalleled" elsewhere, said Michael Scanlon, portfolio manager at Manulife Asset Management. Shares of Google parent Alphabet jumped 3.1% after the search giant reported revenue and adjusted earnings that beat analysts' estimates. The US Gold price remained unchanged at 1224 US$/Oz.
European stocks closed higher, as gains for UBS Group and others helped the market to enjoy its best daily climb since late June. Equities held to higher ground after preliminary manufacturing activity data for the eurozone in July came in above expectations. The Stoxx Europe 600 index added 0.9% to reach 388.18, topped by the basic materials and financial groups, representing its best one-day gain since June 22 and its highest finish since June 15, according to WSJ Market Data Group. On Monday, the pan-European index fell 0.2%, to log a third straight loss. Germany's DAX 30 index rose 1.1% to 12,689.39. France's CAC 40 advanced by 1% to 5,434.19, and Italy's FTSE MIB charged up by 1.3% to 21,874.69. Spain's IBEX 35 gained 0.5% at 9,820.10, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index finished up 0.7% at 7,709, representing a roughly six-week peak for the gauge.
In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.4% and the Shanghai Composite Index was up 1.6%. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei and South Korea's Kospi both posted 0.5% gains. Some of the morning's biggest gainers in the Shanghai Composite Index were construction and infrastructure specialists, insurers and banks. Asian indexes rose after China's cabinet, the State Council, unveiled a string of measures to boost domestic consumption amid economic pressure from an escalating trade spat with the U.S. The measures urged local governments to invest more in infrastructure using special bonds and included corporate tax cuts tied to research spending and increased support for small businesses, according to a statement. Seesawing equity markets have been commonplace in recent months as investors digested trade rhetoric and struggled to gauge the likelihood of increased tensions.
Australian stocks recouped a big chunk of Monday's decline with the S&P/ASX 200 finishing up 0.6% at 6265.8, the fourth gain in five days and still on the doorstep of fresh 10 1/2-year highs. Miners drove the day's advance, with BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto each picking up more than 1% and South32 gaining 2.3%. Consumer and healthcare stocks also rose strongly; Treasury Wine rebounded 5.5%. Meanwhile, the property sector was the only one to fall — amid rising bond yields — though telecom and energy were little changed.
Base metal prices were up overnight on the London Metal Exchange. Aluminium gained 0.3% to 2,064/t, the 3-month copper contract increased 2.8% to 6,265/t. Zinc was 2.8% higher to record 2,653/t. Lead added 1.2% to 2,137/t and nickel increased 1.5% to 13,499/t.
In this issue:
Classic Minerals (CLZ) | High Grade Gold at Forrestania | Not Under Coverage
Market Cap $9.0m | Current Price 0.5¢
Classic Minerals (CLZ) has returned outstanding results from its latest drill campaign at the Forrestania Gold Project (FGP) in Western Australia (CLZ:80% of gold rights, Hannans Ltd [HNR] 20%). Drilling at the Kat Gap prospect returned multiple shallow high-grade intercepts including:
• 8m @ 19.05 g/t Au from 32m, including 4m @ 28.80 g/t Au from 32m,
• 12m @ 7.52 g/t Au from 39m, including 2m @ 20.20 g/t Au from 48m,
• 12m @ 5.39 g/t Au from 30m, including 1m @ 20.80 g/t Au from 30m,
Argonaut regards the Forrestania Belt as an underexplored region with potential to host new multi-million once gold discoveries, such as the Bounty Mine (+3Moz). Much of the region remains unexplored for gold or only tested via shallow (>100m). It is also largely untested using modern exploration/geophysical methods. The southern extent of the belt, where CLZ is active, is particularly underexplored.
St George Mining (SGQ) | Building an inventory | SPEC BUY
Market Cap $42m | Current Price $0.14
St George Mining (SGQ) is steadily increasing the footprint of high grade base metal (Ni, Cu, Co, PGE) mineralisation in the Cathedrals Belt of Western Australia since taking control of the project in early 2016. Argonaut is highly encouraged by the latest drill hole MAD108 at the Investigators Prospect which intercepted 7.6m of sulphide mineralisation, including 1.3m of massive sulphides, down dip of previous holes MAD38 and MAD60 extending the mineralisation ~320m down-plunge. Hand-held XRF reading for the massive component measured 8% Ni and 7% Cu. Exploration along the 4.5km mineralised strike of the Cathedrals Belt is ongoing and we predict the company will be in a position to release a Maiden Resource in late-2018 or early-2019. SGQ is a standout Ni/Cu explorer based on exceptional grades (up to 8% Ni equivalent) and open pittable fresh rock mineralisation
Recent Contacts & Presentations
SRG Ltd (SRG) 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)
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