The ASX 200 recovered to close down just 8 points at 8,720 after hitting a low this morning of 8,641 on a pullback in AI and risk across the board. The catalyst for the turnaround was the banks, which had a very strong day, with CBA up 3.3%, WBC up 2.9%, and good results from BOQ helping sentiment. The Big Bank Basket rallied 3%. The jobs data came in at a headline rate of 4.7%, which may give the RBA an excuse to pause for the time being. Insurers, too, rallied, with QBE up 2.7% and SUN up 2.2%, although we did see financials generally weaker and MQG slipping 1.3%. Industrials, and interest-rate-sensitive stocks had a good day, with TCL up 1.9%, QAN rallying 1.1%, and TLS up 1.9% on the back of defensive buying. Both WOW and COL also had good days on defensive qualities. Tech stocks, though, slipped again, with XRO down 3.0%, and TNE down 1.9%, with MP1 crashing another 10.1%, along with other data centre companies like NXT, off 7.4%. Healthcare stocks were mixed, with CSL pushing another 1.3% higher, but PME slipping today.
Resources were where the damage was done, together with the data centres. BHP fell 4.7%, with RIO also down heavily. Once again, we saw lithium and rare earth stocks under serious pressure, with PLS down 6.3%, LYC down 6.6%, and MIN down 4.9%. Gold miners slipped slightly on lower bullion prices as fears of further rate rises in the U.S. hurt sentiment. A slowdown in the rollout of the data centres in the U.S. continues to hurt the uranium sector, with PDN down 5.1% and DYL down 5.8%. Coal stocks are joining in the weakness today, with WHC falling 4.5%.
In corporate news, the rot continues at MGH, down 11.0%, as its founder pulled out of a conference. We also saw numbers today from BOQ which were slightly better than anticipated, and an update from TWE also helped them rise 4.6%. In takeover news today, TPG (PE Group) surprised the market by taking a 14.9% stake in EQT. INA also had a tough day after Warburg Pincus gave the company a Monday deadline on its acquisition proposal. It dropped 11.6%.
On the economic front, unemployment fell to 4.7%, worse than expected by economists, with employment falling by nearly 40,000 against a consensus of 20,000 jobs created.
10-year yields ease to 5.21%. US Futures – Dow down 6, Nasdaq down 242.
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