Morning Bell 21 August

Between the Bells

Wall Street’s 8-day winning streak ended overnight as investors took a breather from the comeback rally after the early August mass market sell-off. The Dow Jones fell 0.15% on Tuesday, the S&P500 lost 0.2% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day down 0.33%. This week, investors are preparing for the Federal Reserve’s annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium where Fed Chair, Jerome Powell, will speak on Friday. Investors are also likely taking a breather from the recent equities rally ahead of the US Fed’s latest FOMC meeting minutes out on Wednesday US time before assessing their next moves in line with the rate outlook from the Fed at the last rate-decision meeting.
Over in Europe on Tuesday, markets closed lower on Tuesday as economic uncertainty weighed on investor sentiment. The STOXX 600 fell 0.46% with all-but the automotive sector ending the day in the red, while Germany’s DAX lost 0.35% on Tuesday, the French CAC fell 0.22% and, in the UK, the FTSE100 ended the day down 1%. Germany’s producer price index fell 0.8% YoY in July, while inflation in the euro zone was 2.6% in July, up from 2.5% in June with both datasets weighing on investor sentiment on Tuesday.

Across Asia on Tuesday, markets closed mostly higher tracking Wall Street’s strength on Monday and after China’s loan prime rates were held, in-line with expectations. Japan’s Nikkei led the gains with a 1.8% rise, while South Korea’s Kospi index rose 0.83%, and China’s CSI Index added 0.72%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.5% on Tuesday.

Locally on Tuesday, the ASX200 rose for an 8th straight session on Tuesday, closing the day up 0.2% above 8000 points for the first time since the early-August mass sell-off.

What to watch today:

• The RBA meeting minutes out yesterday revealed the RBA considered raising Australia’s cash rate from the 12-year high 4.35% in August in a bid to return inflation to the target 2-3% range in a more reasonable timeframe. The RBA also didn’t rule out any further rate hikes which saw market gains ease in afternoon trade from the morning rally.
• The hawkish tone out of the RBA meeting minutes weighed on real estate stocks yesterday with the sector posting a 1.55% decline while a tech and materials rally more than offset the weakness among real estate stocks.
• Baby Bunting shares soared 8.85% on Tuesday after the baby retailer released FY24 results. Investors overlooked the decline in sales, profit and increase in net debt to buy into the stock on outlook for improved outlook in FY25 amid cost cutting measures and pro forma NPAT expectations of between $9.5m and $12.5m.
  Plumbing supplies giant Reliance Worldwide also rallied just shy of 9% yesterday on the release of FY24 results including net sales growth of 0.2%. Investors bought in also on strong outlook for FY25 in anticipation for this company to form part of the group of entities that will benefit from an easing interest rate environment.
  On the commodities front this morning, oil is trading 0.41% lower at US$73.36/barrel, gold is up 0.43% at US$2514/ounce and iron ore is up 0.3% at US$98.10/tonne.
• The Aussie dollar has strengthened overnight to buy 67.39 US cents, 98.11 Japanese Yen, 51.79 British Pence and 1 New Zealand dollar and 10 cents.
• Ahead of the midweek trading session on the local bourse, the SPI futures are anticipating the ASX to open the day down 0.55% tracking the global market sell-off overnight.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter has decreased the 12-month price target on Mader Group (ASX:MAD) from $7.60 to $6.80 and maintain a buy rating on the leading provider of specialised contract labour for maintenance of heavy mobile equipment in the resources and civil industries, following the release of Mader’s FY24 results. Near-term outlook supported by mid-cycle fleet renewal in Australia and North America, however, the analyst is cautious that chal