ASX Weekly Report for 19 Feb to 23 Feb 2024
Last week was all about one stock, $NVIDIA(NVDA.US$, the powerhouse US-based AI stock that has topped a $US2 trillion valuation and that delivered an earnings result so powerful, its market capitalisation increased by a record $US277 billion in one trading day. Nvidia's market capitalisation has risen by more than $US700 billion in 2024.
The strong sentiment it generated helped propel the $Dow Jones Industrial Average(.DJI.US$ to close above 39,000 for the first time up 1.30% for the week. The $S&P 500 Index(.SPX.US$ closed up 1.66% to another record high. The $Nasdaq Composite Index(.IXIC.US$ gained more than 1.42%.
Not to be outdone, Japan's Nikkei index closed at a record level that was last set in 1989 (along the way it lost 82% into 2009). The Nikkei closed up 1.59% for the week. European stocks joined the party closing at another record and up 1.15% for the week.
China's sharemarket has risen another 4.9% over the week as major institutional investors have been banned from selling at the open and close of each trading day. That and a raft of new measures aimed at supporting the market has seen the index rise more than 14% since the low on February 14. Hong Kong also rose 2.36% last week.
In Australia the major focus was on the earnings season where dozens of companies reported their half year earnings to December 31. There were a number of hits and misses but overall the $S&P/ASX 200(.XJO.AU$ lost 0.19% for the week. The All Ordinaries Index closed down 0.08%.
IT stocks bathed in the Nvidia glow with the sector gaining 3.29% for the week. $WiseTech Global Ltd(WTC.AU$'s has year result was strong and the stock made a new record high, rising 9.92% for the week. Block Inc saw sales increase and announced a plan to integrate Afterpay into a new Cash App in the US. Shares rose 14.4% on the week. Superloop rose 15.1% after increasing its revenue and reducing its loss from the previous corresponding period. $BrainChip Holdings Ltd(BRN.AU$ continued its good run rising another 36%.
Utlities rose 1.86%, Consumer Discretionary rose 1.17%, Financials lifted 0.94% and Industrials gained 0.71%. Sectors losing ground included Consumer Staples down 3.41% where the $Woolworths Group Ltd(WOW.AU$ CEO resigned after a number of missteps that has seen the company lose 11.9% in 2024. Energy stocks lost 1.34%, Real Estate dropped 2.44% and Materials shed 2.71%.
$Rio Tinto Ltd(RIO.AU$ lost 5.00%, $BHP Group Ltd(BHP.AU$ dropped 3.24% and $Fortescue Ltd(FMG.AU$ lost 0.67% after announcing its results. Fortescue lifted its dividend 44% after a 41% rise in first-half net profit.
In other stocks news:
· $Lovisa Holdings Ltd(LOV.AU$ – one of the ASXs most shorted stocks – announced a strong result that saw significant short covering. Shares were up 14.3%
· $Mineral Resources Ltd(MIN.AU$ looked to offload a $230m parcel of shares in Azure Minerals (that is currently under a joint bid from Chile's SQM and Gina Rinehart)
· Building supplies company $CSR Ltd(CSR.AU$ gained 25% as it received a $9 cash takeover bid from the French company Saint Gobain. Shares started the week at $6.70
· Plumbing products business $Reliance Worldwide Corp Ltd(RWC.AU$ gained 12% as it announced a plan to convert half of its dividend into a share buyback perhaps signalling internal thoughts on valuation
· Mining tech company $Imdex Ltd(IMD.AU$ saw strong buying just prior to its result that turned out to be quite prescient. Shares are up 27.3% since Feb 15
· $Seven Group Holdings Ltd(SVW.AU$ announced a cash/scrip bid for the 28.4% of building products company $Boral Ltd(BLD.AU$ that it does not own
· $Newmont Corp(NEM.AU$ the worlds largest gold producer is looking to sell six mines in a bid to generate over $3 billion in cash. The stock is down 63.8% from its peak in April 2022 despite the gold price being close to a record level
Bond yields were little changed last week with the Aussie 2yr falling 5bps to 4.16% and the 10yr losing 5.8bps to 4.28%. In the US 2yr bonds rose 4bps to 4.69% and 10yr bonds lost 3bps to 4.25%.
The Australian Dollar rose slightly to $US0.6563.
In commodity news the Gold price rose $US20 an ounce to $US2046 an ounce, Copper gained 1.31% and Iron Ore fell 1.89% to $US126.85 a tonne.
West Texas Intermediate oil fell 3.4% to $US76.49 a barrel while Brent Crude fell 2.0% to $US81.62 a barrel.
In the coming week we have earnings reports from $Coles Group Ltd(COL.AU$ and $Woodside Energy Group Ltd(WDS.AU$ (Tues), $Suncorp Group Ltd(SUN.AU$ (Mon), $Worley Ltd(WOR.AU$ (Wed), $Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd(HVN.AU$, $Ramsay Health Care Ltd(RHC.AU$ (Thur).
We will also be watching Japanese inflation data (Tues), Eurozone inflation (Fri), China business conditions for Feb (Fri), US consumption inflation and personal spending. The RBNZ meets on Wednesday and it's a line ball call whether to raise rates 25bps.
In Australia the January CPI is released on Wednesday, Construction Spending (Wed) and Retail Sales (Thu).
Disclaimer: Moomoo Technologies Inc. is providing this content for information and educational use only.
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152346890 : the problem of having to swim in the saddle
Sung Jun Lee : I don't want nvda...no good...