ASX News LIVE | ASX to Rise, Bitcoin drops 7.7%; Incitec, Sigma, Whispir Feature

The ASX 200 closed up 0.50% at 7,235.3 as Tech stocks lifted the benchmark, and interest rate-sensitive sectors had a great day.

Almost all sectors finished in the green, with only Materials closing flat.

Xero was up 4.2%, while WiseTech rallied 2.8% despite the poor performance of US tech stocks overnight.

Markets now await US CPI data overnight for their next move tomorrow, as well as the next move for oil, which has begun to recover after heavy losses earlier this month.

WTI Crude was up 0.74% in the session at US$71.85. Bitcoin recovered some of its heavy losses, finishing down 1.30%.

Gold also bounced off falls, finishing up +0.16% at US$1,986.42.

HSBC Australian economists just put out their forecast for 2024.

In an economic note today the group said house prices would rise between 3-6% in 2024.

Chief Economist Paul Bloxham added in the note:

“We expect slower population growth, the lagged effect of tightened monetary policy and rising unemployment to weigh on housing demand,” he said.

 

“But given the highly constrained housing supply, prices are expected “to rise at a slower rate, rather than fall outright”.

Another great collection of charts by economist Alex Joiner showing Australian retailer confidence is down again this month.

Christmas trade turning any of this around is probably unlikely at this stage, so what is next for Australian spending?

I smooth the industry level data a bit, retailers confidence in free fall. They've had the boom of fiscal largesse in the pandemic and after and now face the bust of cost of living and higher rates through the coming year. https://t.co/2yd8szGQEe pic.twitter.com/0C0mKs8D3e

— Alex Joiner 🇦🇺 (@IFM_Economist) December 12, 2023

Private-equity-backed Soprano Design sent a second bidder statement to the ASX today in its attempt to sway shareholders on its attempt to take Whispir [ASX:WSP] private.

The communications software company Soprano, run by Mark Brayan, offered an all-cash takeover bid for Whispir at 48 cents per share in November.

The board rejected the buyout earlier this month, saying it undervalued the company. An independent valuation of the offer put the value at between 48.59-56.49 cents per share.

In the new statement, they highlighted that the deal ‘provides cash certainty now‘ and that the money would be in their accounts in time for Christmas.

They also warned that the price may fall when the offer closes and highlighted Whispir’s cash burn of $600,000 a month.

Whether this strong-arm tactic works remains to be seen, but the share price is up by nearly 1% in today’s trading.

The ASX 200 is up 0.50% to 7,234, with all 11 sectors in the green at midday.

Top performers are Information Technology (+1.33%) and Health Care (+1.20%), while Energy (+0.04%) and Utilities (+0.07%) lag behind.

The best-performing stocks on the ASX 200 today so far are Telix Pharmaceuticals, up 3.56% and Virgin Money, gaining 2.89%.

Meanwhile, Lynas Rare Earths is down 3.64%, and Summerset Group Holdings fell 3.33%.

Markets are surprisingly active, considering most were expecting a ‘wait and see’ as international central banks are making decisions this week.

The Federal Reserve decision on Wednesday is unlikely to be controversial, but the comments and data that accompany it will likely stir movement in the market. The BoE and European Central Bank are also set to decide on rates later this week.

The latest consumer confidence shows modest increases across the board as the RBA decided not to raise rates this month, but expectations remain low coming into the new year.

Source: Alex Joiner

Healius [ASX:HLS] Healthcare announced the completion of its retail investor raise today, raising $33.5 million at $1.20 per new share.

Retail shareholders bought 60% of the offer, with the underwriters taking the remainder. The company has now raised $187 million from both institutional and retail investors.

11.1 million shares that were not taken up in the raise will be allotted to sub-underwriters on 14 December.

Shares in the company are down 44.31% in the past 12 months.

Industrial explosives manufacturer Incitec Pivot [ASX:IPL] has appointed Mauro Neves de Moraes as chief executive.

‘Mauro has executive leadership experience in the mining and logistics sectors across multiple geographies. He has held leadership positions, including as Asset President for BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) in Queensland, Australia and Asset President at BHP’s Escondida operations in Chile, the world’s largest copper mine. His global expertise provides deep knowledge of the strategic and operational issues facing companies across the mining sector.’

RBA head Michelle Bullock spoke at the AusPayNet Summit this morning. In a technically focused talk, the governor spoke about the future of payments for Australians.

She said the central bank remains focused on access to cash for Australians but said users might have to bear some of the costs of getting access to it.

The use of cash for payments has been in decline as users switch to digital forms of payment.

The share of consumer payments using cash has declined from 70% in 2007 to 13% in 2022.

‘Despite this decline, cash remains an important means of payment for some people and is widely held for precautionary or store-of-wealth purposes,’ Ms Bullock said.

 

‘Cash is also an important backup method of payment during system outages or natural disasters, when electronic payments might be unavailable.’

Mrs Bullock also said the RBA had launched a review into cash access following the merger of the two largest cash providers, Linfox Armaguard and Prosegur.

She also said the RBA would step up its oversight of new payment systems, with a focus on mobile wallets, buy now pay later, and least cost routing.

The RBA will consider regulatory action to address the opaque nature of fees for these services.

In the question period, Mrs Bullock was asked:

‘The US CPI is tipped to be 3% tonight, keeping US rates on hold at 5.5%. How far behind the rest of the world is Australia falling in the fight against inflation?’

 

She responded: ‘I don’t think we are falling behind at all. We are trying to slow the economy enough to bring inflation back to our target band. Provided inflation expectations don’t get out of control – and they are not at the moment- I think we can do that.’

Good morning all, Charlie here

The ASX 200 futures point to a rise in the benchmark today. Futures are up 0.17% to 7,222.5.

In US stocks, the Nasdaq managed to climb despite all seven mega-cap tech stocks falling over 1%. The Magnificent Seven lost a combined US$200 billion in market cap.

Meta -2.24%, Alphabet -1.26%

Apple -1.29%, Tesla -1.68%

Amazon -1.04%, Microsoft -0.78%

Nvidia -1.85%

The S&P 500 finished at a fresh high for the year to date. Surveys have expectations of further highs in 2024, as most expect a soft landing, however, geopolitical risks are seen as the largest risk in the new year.

This week, eyes are on Central banks as the Fed, Bank of England and European Central Bank decide on the next interest rates.

Gold fell below its key US$2,000 level after a brief time at all-time highs. Gold is now down 7.7% since its time at the top of US$2,146 last week.

Wall Street: Dow +0.43%, Nasdaq +0.20%, S&P 500 +0.39%

Overseas: FTSE -0.13%, STOXX +0.37%, Nikkei +1.50%, SSE +0.74%

The Aussie dollar fell -0.06% to US 65.67 cents.

US 10-year bond yield +1bps to 4.23%. Australian 10-year bond yields +5bps to 4.34%.

Gold is down -1.27% to US$1,981.83. Silver is down -1.04% to US$22.83

Bitcoin fell -6.22% to US$41,123.51, Ethereum fell -6.33% to US$2,214.10

Oil Brent rose +0.33% to US$76.09, while WTI Crude rose +0.22% to US$71.39

Iron ore is up +0.78% to US$135.45 a tonne. Iron ore continues to surprise investors with its strength, trading up as a rise in Chinese steel output pushes up demand.