New 5-month highs, but market fails to hold 6200

The US market might have seen its third consecutive session in the red overnight, but locally the ASX is enjoying some time in the sun with its third consecutive session finishing in the black. Today it reached a 5 month intra-day high as it pulsed above 6200 a number of times throughout the day, capping out at 6209 before trading a little lower in the afternoon to close at 6192. Financials were certainly the leaders today with the banks and insurers seeing the most buying – QBE in particular added an impressive +1.7%. Money came out of the resource names following commodity softness and likely some profit taking there after an impressive run across the sector.

Company specific news flow was light – as expected just coming out of reporting season. Now though, macro data will start to feed through, and the Chinese Caixin PMI printed better than expected today at 49.9 – consensus was after around 48.5. This helped some of the China facing stocks. Bellamy’s, which was smashed after its result, added 10% today, grinding higher throughout the session thanks to both the data and some not-so-bad analyst revisions.

Overall today, the index closed up  +23pts or +0.38% to 6192. Dow Futures are trading up 96points / +0.37%.

ASX 200 Chart

ASX 200 Chart

CATCHING OUR EYE

Sectors this week; 

Stocks this week;

Broker Moves;

·         Rio Tinto Downgraded to Hold at DZ Bank; PT 45 Pounds

·         Ramsay Health Downgraded to Neutral at Citi; PT A$65

·         Ramsay Health Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank; PT Set to A$64.90

·         Atlas Arteria Downgraded to Neutral at UBS; PT A$6.90

·         Atlas Arteria Downgraded to Hold at Morgans Financial; PT A$6.64

·         Atlas Arteria Downgraded to Neutral at Credit Suisse; PT A$7.15

·         Suncorp Upgraded to Buy at Bell Potter; PT A$14.10

·         Automotive Holdings Downgraded to Hold at Morningstar

·         Automotive Holdings Downgraded to Hold at Bell Potter; PT A$2.30

·         Mineral Resources Upgraded to Buy at Morningstar

·         InvoCare Downgraded to Hold at Morningstar

·         Premier Investments Downgraded to Sell at Morningstar

·         Saracen Mineral Upgraded to Outperform at RBC; Price Target A$3

·         Cromwell Property Downgraded to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT A$1.13

Some of the stock specific events we covered during the week…

ACCC approve Bingo’s Dial-a-Dump acquisition & they launch a buyback. Click here 

Macquarie Group launch a new hybrid.  Click here 

Afterpay still not making a profit, but is that the be all and end all?  Click here 

Vocus result in focus.  Click here 

QBE turnaround on track.  Click here 

HUB24 reported and was pummelled by investors.  Click here 

The printers are working over at IVE Group. Click here 

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