End of Day Report – Wednesday 15 May: Retail Winners From Budget | US CPI Awaits

Market Updates

ASX 200 finishes up 27 points to 7754 (+0.4%), basking in a warm post-budget glow. The main driver of the advance was retail stocks and BHP, which was buoyed by talk it may just walk from Anglo discussions. Up 2.2%. Some budget winners in focus today, with some of the critical metal stocks finding some friends, although gains were muted in the end. Gold miners slightly better, with NST up 0.4% and PRU up 2.2%. Lithium stocks took the cue from better prices overseas, PLS up 0.3% and LTR rising 1.5%. Oil and gas stocks eased as oil prices fell. Banks were slightly easier, with the Big Bank Basket down to $207.72 (-0.1%). ANZ the big faller down 1.2%. MQG also in trouble off 1.0%, with ASX off 1.4% on a broker downgrade. REITs better across the spectrum, SCG up 1.6% and SGP up 2.4%. Industrials firmed, TLS having a good day up 0.6%, and informed me I had won a new phone. TCL slipped 1.8%, with healthcare mixed on budget news, RHC down 1.0%. Tech flat, retail better, PMV up 2.4% and JBH up 0.4%. In corporate news, STO announced 2000 job cuts, SXL rejected the ARN deal, and IRE sank 1.8% on data leak news. AAC dropped 1.4% after a challenging year, and CSR's aluminium operations sharply fell to an annual loss of $29m. In economic news, wage growth slowed to 0.8%. Asian markets mixed again, with Japan unchanged, HK closed and China off 0.5%. 10Y yields steady at 4.324%. Dow Futures up 14 points. NASDAQ Futures down 8 points.
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