The Australian sharemarket started the week on a rather dull note, reflected by a 0.45 per cent or 32.5 point slide in the ASX 200 to 7206.3. Tech and Material stocks weighed on the index after both sectors recorded their fourth fall in five trading days. A 2.1 per cent rally in the Energy sector – the third straight win – however, capped losses. Just three of 11 sectors finished in positive territory.
In economic news, the Melbourne Institute monthly headline inflation gauge rose by 1.1 per cent in May after falling by 0.1 per cent in April. Prices are up 4.8 per cent on the year. ANZ job ads in May also rose by 0.4 per cent, to stand 17.3 per cent higher on the year.
Tomorrow the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is widely anticipated to lift the cash rate for a second straight month. While Commonwealth Bank (CBA) Group Economists expect the RBA to increase the cash rate by 25 basis points or 0.25 per cent, a more aggressive 40 basis point or 0.4 per cent life can’t be ruled out.
In company news, Magellan (MFG) released a funds-undermanagement (FUM) update, which showed that its total FUM fell by 5.3 per cent to $65 billion in May, driven by both a 4.8 per cent fall in its Retail FUM, and a 5.5 per cent slip in its Institutional FUM. MFG’s shares sank by 13.9 per cent and had their worst day since December 20, 2021.
Tabcorp (TAH) shares climbed 5.3 per cent and was today’s best performer after it settled legal proceedings which started in 2019. TAH will be paying Racing Queensland and the Queensland Government a combined amount of $150 million. The Queensland Government also proposed tax reforms on the racing industry.
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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has extended the review of Dye & Durham Corporation’s acquisition of Link Group (LNK). The ACCC expects to provide afurther update on June 16.
Liontown Resources (LTR) & Tesla have formalised offtake arrangements with a definitive full-form offtake agreement. This follows LTR’s announcement on 16 February, which outlined the supply of 150,000 dry metric tonnes of spodumene concentrate per annum to Tesla, for five years.
4.8bn shares were traded, worth $5.7bn. 430 stocks finished higher, 1,042 ended lower, while 380 closed unchanged.
No major economic data is expected in the US tonight. Tomorrow,the key focus will be the RBA cash rate decision.
Originally published by Divik Nigam – (Author), CommSec
