After several days on the up, the ASX fell today with its pants pulled down by miners, although banks and miners did rally after midday.
BHP Group Ltd (LSE:BHP, ASX:BHP) lost 3.5% after it was downgraded by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) before paring back to -1.4% at close, while Rio Tinto Ltd fell 2.06% and Fortescue Metals Group (ASX:FMG) Ltd was hardest hit early, falling 5% before making a comeback to be only 0.98% down.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 dropped 53.50 points or 0.80% to 6,597.10, crossing below its 20-day moving average. Over the last five days, the index has lost 1.21% and 10.07% over the last 52 weeks.
The bottom performing stocks were Pendal Group Ltd down 7.60% and Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX:MIN) down 7.46%
In the news this week
Low unemployment rate will lead to higher interest rate
Speculation is rife that the next cash rate rise delivered by the Reserve bank of Australia (RBA) will be as high as 0.75%.
Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics this week show employers created 88,400 jobs in June – almost three times consensus estimates of 30,000.
The surprise number drove the unemployment rate down from 3.9% to 3.5%, lower than an expected 3.8%.
If the economy has exceeded full employment, it could start a wage spiral.
“This is an increasingly tight labour market, possibly already beyond full employment, which will keep pressure on the RBA to get to neutral sooner rather than later and think about restrictive territory,” said RBC Australia chief economist, Su-Lin Ong.
“Coupled with the global trend to front load, with the Bank of Canada delivering a 100 basis point hike, markets will likely price in something between 50 and 75 basis points for the August 2 RBA meeting.”
Trading spruiked by Aussie cricketer platform shut down
Trading platform Trade360, spruiked by former Australian test captain Steve Smith, has been shut down by the Australian Investments and Securities Commission (ASIC).
The corporate regulator stripped the foreign exchange business of its financial services licence. Trade360 is run by Sirius Financial Markets, which also saw two executive banned for eight years each after they breached licence obligations.
Users of the platform lost over $15 million in just a year and a half, with the platform accused of using boiler room tactics to entice people out of their money.
One retail investor lost over $400,000 after putting money into high risk CFDs, an asset class usually limited to sophisticated investors only.
“ASIC’s investigation found the call centre representatives persuaded Sirius Financial clients to trade using pressure selling tactics and provided clients with personal advice when Sirius Financial was not licensed to do so,” the regulator said.
“Sirius Financial was also found to have engaged in unconscionable conduct and conduct that was likely to mislead or deceive.”
While Steve Smith no longer has any affiliation with the trading company, he had heavily spruiked the platform saying, “It’s an amazing technology that helps me confirm or question what I think the market trends are when I’m trading. It’s genius really, because you get to see what other traders just like you are doing, instead of relying on computer feedback.”
A spokesperson for Smith confirmed the Aussie cricketer was no longer involved but failed to indicate when he removed himself.
Here’s a look at some of top small cap stories of the day.
Legacy Minerals confirms a ‘wide mineralised corridor’ at Harden Gold Mine
“The diamond drill program has confirmed a significant mineralised system and delivered significant geological insight into the Harden Gold Mine mineralisation, providing LGM with additional data for its geological model,” said MD Christopher Byrne.
AVZ Minerals restarts diamond drilling at Manono to increase lithium resources and reserves
AVZ is set to restart diamond drilling at the Manono Lithium and Tin Project as it looks to significantly increase lithium resources and reserves at Roche Dure.
Openn Negotiation partners with Realty Assist Australia for "deeper data sets" and increased market share
“Both groups help to improve the experiences of buyers, sellers and agents in property transactions in different ways and this collaboration allows us to help each other grow market share," Openn MD Peter Gibbons said.
Animoca Brands Corporation and Blowfish Studios launch Phantom Galaxies governance and utility token Astrafer
The Astrafer token is an essential part of Phantom Galaxies, providing governance functions as well as in-game utility.
Prescient Therapeutics' PTX-100 for peripheral T-cell lymphoma treatment granted US orphan drug status
The designation brings considerable benefits including guaranteed market exclusivity for seven years and a waiver of Prescription Drug User Fee Act fees for orphan drugs, valued at over US$3.1 million in 2022.
On your Six – The bonus read
Disney isn’t all about princesses, Star Wars and Marvel. It also funds start-ups in the tech and entertainment paces.
Disney’s Web3 accelerator fund invests in Polygon blockchain
The Disney program aims to support Web3, AI and NFT projects and among the participants is the Polygon blockchain, whose US$5 billion MATIC network token rose 16% following the announcement.
The one for good luck
Corazon Mining moves forward at Mt Gilmore and the flagship Lynn Lake Project
Brett Smith joins Elisha Newell to chat about geochemical work from the Mt Gilmore Project in northern NSW and the latest developments at Lynn Lake.