The local sharemarket followed a weak global lead, falling 0.8 per cent on Wednesday but with the fear spreading to broader sectors of the market. In the opposite to yesterday’s trade, energy and utilities outperformed gaining 1 and 0.6 per cent respectively, with the materials sector also benefitting from a breather on Chinese selling. Whitehaven…
One of the more interesting and powerful implications of the pandemic, relating to investment markets at least, is the velocity at which every new piece of news or data is priced-into markets. We only need to look back at the events of March and April 2020 to be reminded that we experienced both the fastest…
News that Beijing was set to follow Shanghai into massive lockdowns to avert the threat of Omicron sent global share markets into a shockwave in this shortened week. The S&P/ASX200 fell another 2.1 per cent with every sector lower, led by the materials and energy sectors which fell 5.1 and 4 per cent respectively. The…
The first quarter of 2022 was likely the most difficult period in most financial professional’s career. With the majority of investors and asset allocators having only seen market corrections recover quickly, the events of February 2022 resulted in the worst period for both bond markets and the traditional ‘balanced’ portfolio in history. Outside of Ukraine,…
It was another positive day for the local sharemarket with retreating bond yields and more positive stock-specific news sending the S&P/ASX200 another 0.3 per cent higher. In a surprising turn, both the materials and technology sectors underperformed, down 2.6 and 1.6 per cent respectively, while the real estate and industrial sectors added over 2 per…
It was a flat day for the local bourse, with the S&P/ASX200 managing to deliver a gain of just four points or 0.05 per cent as the dualling pull of falling commodity prices and a surge in healthcare offset each other. The materials sector was down 1.5 per cent and energy 0.6, with every other…
The shortened week has begun positively with the S&P/ASX200 gaining 0.6 per cent despite lower-than-normal volumes. The release of the RBA’s policy meeting minutes dominated the conversation with commentary around the proximity of rate hikes now suggesting they will come sooner rather than later. The result was the perceived ‘inflation hedges’ within the market outperforming,…
The Australian economy has rebounded quickly after the Omicron lockdowns, which saw many predict another technical recession (two consecutive quarters of shrinking GDP) in 2021. With restrictions released, the consumer contributed to a 3.4% jump in economic growth in the December quarter. Consumer spending jumped 6.3%, however, exports fell and private investment reversed due to…
Value managers are seeing somewhat of a renaissance in 2022; at the very least, those which have been overweight underperforming materials, financials and traditional cyclical companies have done exceptionally well. Platinum Asset Management (ASX:PTM) remains one of Australia’s most well-known value managers, but the last decade has not been easy for the firm. In fact,…
It was another weak day for the local market with every major sector falling on Tuesday and dragging the S&P/ASX200 down another 0.4 per cent. The primary driver remains the oil price, which fell by 4 per cent, and the surging bond yields impacting valuations. This trend has benefitted the gold mining sector which contributed…
