The Match Out: Huge intra-day bounce as buyers emerge with force

What Mattered Today

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The ASX200 traded below the 7000 level this morning for the first time since March as the risk-off trade continued after the Hawkish update from the Fed yesterday, but a huge intra-day turnaround took hold and the ASX200 ultimately finished marginally higher, rallying +111pts from the morning lows which was simply a phenomenal effort! The intra-day buying helped snap a 4-day losing streak, though the index fell by -210pts/-2.89% over the course of a tough week.

• The ASX 200 eventually closed up +3pts / +0.05% to 7068
• The Utilities sector +0.79% was best on ground today, supported by Energy (+0.72%) and Materials (0.56%)
• Interest rate leveraged sectors of Real Estate (-1.41%), Healthcare (-1.02%) and Tech (-0.67%) found it the toughest.
• There was clearly aggressive buying sub-7000 which is a very positive sign and implies a strong level of support at the bottom end of the trading range.
• We’ve written a lot about respecting the range on the ASX200 in recent months, which sits between 7000-7500 and while it’s been equally restrictive on the upside, the downside support was very obvious today.
• Most stocks opened smack on their lows and rallied hard throughout the session – a day that paid dividends to those who bought the open.
• The Bank of Japan continues to hold out on rate hikes, sticking with the -0.1% interest rate, still targeting 0% for Government 10-year bonds and maintaining a dovish stance.
• Costa Group (ASX: CGC) +6.55% rallied as the board of the fruit and veg producer unanimously accepted the bid from Paine Schwartz at $3.20/sh, down from $3.50/sh.
• News Corp (ASX: NWS) +2.24% was higher after Rupert Murdoch announced he was handing over the reins to his son Lachlan. At 92 years young, it’s been a good innings from Rupert!
• Lithium stocks held up well in the face of a softer market, prices for Spodumene were up overnight which flowed through to the Chemical producers today, notably Pilbara (ASX: PLS) which added +6.78% after opening lower – a huge turnaround!
• Healius (ASX: HLS) and Aust. Clinical Labs (ASX: ACL) were both largely unchanged following the ACCC’s request for more information on the planned tie-up of two of Australia’s largest pathology companies.
• Gold was up 0.25% in Asia to $US1925/oz. For the most part, gold stocks were marginally higher today.
• Iron Ore was up ~0.6% in Asia, supporting a ~4.5% rally for FMG off its early lows.
• Stocks across the region also rallied from lows with the Hang Seng the star, up +1.15%.
• US Futures are up around 0.25%.

Stocks this week – Source Bloomberg

Stocks this week – Source Bloomberg

Broker Moves

• Bank of Queensland Cut to Underperform at Macquarie; PT A$5.25
• Bendigo & Adelaide Cut to Underperform at Macquarie; PT A$8.75
• Santos Cut to Neutral at Jarden Securities; PT A$8.05
• Mesoblast Raised to Speculative Buy at Bell Potter
• Transurban Raised to Buy at Jefferies; PT A$14.08

Major Movers Today

Enjoy the night
The Market Matters Team

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