1 February, 2024

Pinch and a punch, it’s February already? 

Market highlights

ASX futures down 82 points or 1.07% to 7561 near 7.05am AEDT

  • AUD -0.5% to 65.72 US cents
  • Bitcoin -0.1% to $US43,395 at 6.44am AEDT
  • On Wall St at 3.15pm: Dow -0.6% S&P -1.2% Nasdaq -1.8%
  • In New York: BHP -0.2% Rio -0.5% Atlassian -2.4%
  • Tesla -1.3% Microsoft -1.8% Apple -1.4% Amazon -1.7%
  • VIX +4.8% QQQ -1.7% TLT +0.5%
  • Stoxx 50 -0.3% FTSE -0.5% DAX -0.4% CAC -0.3%
  • Spot gold +0.4% to $US2044.95/oz at 2.15pm in New York
  • Brent crude -1.4% to $US81.72 a barrel
  • Iron ore -2.4% to $US129.60 a tonne
  • 10-year yield: US 3.99% Australia 4.01% Germany 2.16%
  • US prices as of 3.11pm in New York

Australian shares are poised to open sharply lower, pulling back from a record high set on Wednesday. US markets swung, as usual, after release of the latest policymaker statement and the rush to interpret the rate outlook.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.8 per cent in late trading after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said policymakers were “unlikely” to pivot to rate cuts in March, in contrast to expectations.

The Fed, as expected, held its key interest rate unchanged after its Thursday AEDT meeting. It also said that while inflation has eased over the past year, it “remains elevated”.

Powell initially told reporters that he thinks US rates have peaked, and if the economy evolves as the central bank expects, policymakers expect to dial back on rates this year. He also said the Fed is in “risk-management mode” to prevent moving too soon or too late.

Later in his press conference, Powell said it was unlikely the policy committee would be confident enough in the outlook for inflation to cut rates in March.

The next Fed policy meeting is set for March 19-20.

Alphabet, Google’s parent, shed more than 6 per cent, dragging both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite lower. Those two benchmarks pared their losses as Powell spoke.

Source: AFR

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Closer to Home


  • Project stalls are not unique to Africa
  • Projects in Africa have some of the lowest capex and production costs in the world
  • A bunch of ASX players have, and are again, hitting paydirt on the continent
  • Which Aussie junior is ready to be the next big thing in Africa?

While mining exploration and development in Africa is often thought of as being fraught with risk from regional conflicts, political tensions and corruption, changes have been afoot with those in power realising just how lucrative stabilising the sector is for taking advantage of Africa’s untapped resources.

Mining, like any business in Africa, is a risk. The corruption, history and other nuances of the developing world are well documented. Yet, is it the cradle of humanity that is to blame nowadays?

The advantages of less regulation, cheap labour and an abundance of underexplored, shallow, or just easy-to-mine deposits are known to be able to drop exploration, development and production all-in-sustaining costs (AISC) to some of the cheapest on Earth.

It seems to this Stockhead that if companies have enough “cojones” to stick out a project in Africa through “potential” bad times, they’re almost pinned on to reap high-margin rewards.

Whatever the reasons, it seems the jury is still out, so let’s look at the winners, those who lost and stayed, and the newbies in play, so everyone gets to make their minds up.

Source: Stockhead

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