Evening markets report Friday

Following a slump in Wall Street overnight, the local sharemarket ended the final day of the week, month and quarter with a decline, after the ASX 200 tumbled by 80.8 points or 1.2 per cent, to 6474. The Energy and Mining sectors however climbed, by 0.1 per cent and 0.7 per cent, respectively. Gold miners Capricorn Metals (CMM), Regis Resources (RRL), St Barbara (SBM) all rallied by at least 6.4 per cent. In fact, nine out of the top 10 best performing
stocks on the ASX 200 today were gold producers. Financials fell by 2.2 per cent and Tech shed 2.7 per cent. 9 sectors (of 11) fell.

Over the week, Megaport (MP1), Ramelius Resources (RMS) and Capricorn Metals (CMM) rose by 8.5 per cent, 8.3 per cent and 7.1 per cent, respectively, and were the best performers in the ASX 200. Premier Investments (PMV) closely followed with a gain of 6.3 per cent, after announcing better-than-expected annual results, a share buy-back, and a special dividend. Core Lithium (CXO) was the worst performer (down 19.9 per cent). IRESS (IRE) shed 17.3 per cent over the week after it downgraded its earnings.

Over the month, the ASX 200 shed 7.3 per cent, its second biggest decline this year. All sectors lost ground. The Utilities sector (down 14.9 per cent) posted its biggest decline since records began in March 2000, weighed by an 18.4 per cent fall in shares of Origin Energy (ORG). The Industrials, Consumer Discretionary & Property sector all posted their biggest loss since March 2020. Coal miners New Hope Corporation (NHC) and Whitehaven Coal (WHC) were amongst the best performers for the month, climbing by 28.4 per cent and 13.2 per cent, respectively.

In company news, The a2 Milk Company (A2M) rose by 0.6 per cent after releasing a trading update, and announcing the commencement of its on-market share buy-back. A2M outlined that it made a ‘positive start to the year’, with ‘1Q23 sales expected to be marginally ahead of plan’. The company however says that ‘due to the currency impact on cost of sales’ and ‘cost of doing business’, 1Q23 EBITDA is ‘expected to be in line with plan’.

Core Lithium (CXO) entered into a trading halt today after announcing a $100 million institutional equity raise. The placement price is $1.03 per share – a 6.8 per cent discount to its last close. CXO says that the equity raise enables it to ‘fast-track exploration programs, expedite capital development initiatives and pursue growth opportunities’. The lithium explorer is expected to resume trade on the ASX on October 3. CXO fell by 19.9 per cent this week.

Next week, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will hand down its interest rate decision. Markets currently expect the RBA to hike rates by 50 basis points for the fifth straight time, to 2.85 per cent – a 9-year high.

The Aussie sharemarket will be open on Monday despite there being a public holiday in NSW, ACT, QLD, South Australia.

Today, 3.2bn shares were traded, worth $9.4bn. 555 stocks rose, 800 fell & 376 finished unchanged.

Originally published by Divik Nigam – (Author), CommSec