Market Updates

The ASX 200 continued its run higher, up another 39 points to 8846, although slightly off the top. The news was dominated by M&A announcements in CWY, CGF, FPR, amongst others. The banks once again proving resilient, with CBA up 0.7% and the big bank basket rising to $269.99 (0.8%). MQG eased back slightly, but insurers were better, and other financials took their cue from a bid for CGF from Japanese insurer TAL. It rose 19.3%.  AMP up 3.8%. REITs were somewhat mixed, with GMG down 0.4% and CHC rising 4.5%. Industrials, too, were mixed, with some losses in healthcare stocks like RHC down X% and RMD down 0.8%. BXB rose slightly, and retail flatlined today. Technology stocks came under pressure again, with XRO down 2.4% and MP1 also falling hard again. The All-Tech Index fell 0.8%.
Meanwhile, resources were mixed, with the iron ore miners firming as BHP rose 0.7%, and oil and gas stocks were also better as the Brent crude price hovered around $110. WDS up 2.7%. There was also action in the coal sector. NHC announced a scrip bid for a privately listed coal company. Gold miners eased back slightly, as did lithium stocks again, but LYC made some gains today.
In corporate news, NXT is in a trading halt as issues surrounding power supply to a Melbourne data centre come to the fore. ALD fell 2.5% despite reporting a doubling of its refining margin. M&A activity in CWY, CGF, and INA. MSB fell hard after missing forecasts for Ryonsil sales, and BEN fell 4.0% after higher cash earnings but lower margins saw sellers return.
In economic news, the Chinese economy grew 4.5% in September. The RBA's Chris Kent spoke at a conference, saying monetary policy is still working.
Asian markets mixed with the Nikkei down 0.9%, HK up 0.5% and China unchanged. Korea under pressure again.
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US stock indices closed lower on Friday as the selloff in chipmakers extended into an eighth consecutive session, marking the sector’s longest losing streak since the 2008 financial crisis. The S&P 500 fell 1.1%, the Dow shed 175 points, and the Nasdaq dropped 2.5%. CoreWeave plunged 11.9%, extending its weekly losses to 23.7% and highlighting renewed credit concerns surrounding AI infrastructure companies. The sector has come under pressure following relatively modest revenue figures from Anthropic and growing concerns about higher interest rates for heavily indebted companies. Economic data released last week showed accelerating consumer inflation and surging producer prices, both at the headline and core levels. Nvidia lost 1.4%, Micron fell 5.6%, and AMD dropped 5.9%. Meanwhile, Tesla declined 2.1% and SpaceX fell 1.7% amid speculation about a potential merger between the companies. For the week, the S&P 500 shed 2%, the Nasdaq lost 5% and the Dow added 156 points.
SPI down 11 - CWY and FPR in focus - CGF gets a bid too.
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The ASX 200 jumped 87 points to close at 8,807, up around 90 points for the week, on better U.S. markets and comments from the Federal Reserve chief, Kevin Warsh, in Bangkok. Banks saw profit-taking today, with CBA down 1.1% and NAB down 1.0%, with the Big Bank Basket slipping 1%. Elsewhere in financials, though, MQG rose 1.1%, and financial stocks rose, with the ASX up 0.7% and PNI up 5.6%. REITs were a little weaker today, with SCG down 0.9% and VCX down 0.8%. Healthcare was once again a standout sector, with CSL up 2.8%, PME up 7.4%, and also RMD doing well. 
Industrials were back in favour, with the tech sector leading the charge, as WTC rose 9.0%, TNE rose 4.2%, and even NXT had a good day, up 3.6%. The All - Tech index rose 4.4%. Retail stocks also did well after the jobs number yesterday helped the bond market, with WES up 1.0%, JBH up 1.3%, and PMV up 1.6%.
In the resource sector, we had a good bounce back, with BHP up 3.5%, RIO up 1.5%, and the gold miners also showing good gains, with NST up 3.3% and GMD up 4.9%. Rare earths and lithium stocks remained on the sidelines, although we did see some small gains. After a torrid week, buyers were back covering shorts in PDN and DYL, with oil and gas stocks easing slightly.
In corporate news, MGH rallied 14.8% after an update from the company, while CWY fell 6.1% ahead of Monday's deadline on the takeover approach. MSB rose 2.6% despite a 44% increase in net revenue. New listing OWL fell 12.5% after an $8m raise. MYX rose 1.2% after reaching a patent settlement.
Nothing locally on the economic front, with all eyes on Kevin Warsh in Bangkok.
10-year yields ease to 5.21%. US Futures – Dow up 40 Nasdaq up 44 
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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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