NAB rebounds, Chalice Mining soars again: ASX edges 0.2% higher at noon

The Australian sharemarket opened flat with little movement in the first hour of trade. The market lifted higher at lunchtime as NAB and Chalice Mining make strong gains. At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.2 per cent or 16.7 points higher at 7450.9. The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 15 points.

This followed Wall St pulling back from record highs overnight after investors digested producer inflation figures. The biggest drag on the Dow was Visa falling 3.2 per cent, while on the Nasdaq, Tesla’s decline accelerated as CEO Elon Musk sought counsel from his followers around selling 10 per cent of his stock. 

Across the ASX sectors, 3 out of 11 are in the green. Financials are adding the most points, up 1.1 per cent, followed by utilities, up 0.6 per cent, then real estate, up 0.5 per cent. Meanwhile, materials are leading the decline, down 0.8 per cent, followed by technology and energy, down 0.7 per cent, then healthcare and communications, down 0.3 per cent. 

The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN), trading 7.1 per cent higher which has climbed sharply for a second session following its maiden resource estimate. It is then followed by shares in the online retailer Kogan.com (ASX:KGN), trading 4.3 per cent higher. The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is location data company Nearmap (ASX:NEA), trading 3.9 per cent lower. 

Major banks are lifting the market, led by NAB (ASX:NAB), which is rebounding from yesterday's weak performance, up 3.4 per cent. The bank is looking to finalise the deal to acquire Citibank’s consumer business and sale of BNZ Life next year. Amid this, the bank sees competition in the home loans space impacting on growth with net interest margin to stay on the softer side due to the low rate environment as support from the RBA is scaled back. Meanwhile, Westpac (ASX:WBC) is up 1.3 per cent, Commonwealth (ASX:CBA) is up 0.7 per cent and ANZ (ASX:ANZ) is up 0.1 per cent. 

In company news, property giant Ingenia Communities (ASX:INA) fell 0.2 per cent following news it will acquire acquire the Victorian BIG4 Beacon Resort for $37 million. Vicinity Centres (ASX:VCX) fell 1 per cent after reporting on a challenging September quarter with no earnings guidance for FY22 provided following a significant impact in NSW and Victoria during lockdowns.

Iron ore prices are trading 1.5 per cent lower, leaving heavyweight miners to weigh on the index. BHP (ASX:BHP) fell 1.9 per cent and Fortescue (ASX:FMG) fell 1.7 per cent. Gold miner Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) fell 4 per cent and lithium miner Orocobre (ASX:ORE) fell 3.4 per cent. Travel stocks Webjet (ASX:WEB) and Flight centre (ASX:FLT) also fell 2.9 and 1.9 per cent. 

Local economic news 

Melbourne Institute and Westpac released the November confidence report. Consumer sentiment increased by 0.6 per cent to 105.3 in November, from 104.6 in October. 

The report said that while the movement in the Index is hardly noteworthy there are a number of intriguing aspects of the survey that provide us with useful evidence of how the economy is evolving as we emerge out of Covid. These include insights into spending patterns, the labour market, the impact of a changing interest rate scene, industry developments and housing. 

In contrast, the Index had surged 32 per cent over the two months to October 2020 as the nation heaved a sigh of relief that Victoria’s ‘second wave’ Covid outbreak was finally coming under control and that other states had successfully avoided a return bout. That was a time when respondents were still very uncertain about the outlook and the risks associated with Covid. In recent months the success of vaccination rollouts has underpinned a confident consumer despite being in lockdown. 

Australian Bureau of Statistics released the monthly business turnover report as well as the weekly payroll jobs and wages report.

Monthly business turnover falls in 8 of the 13 published industries in September. The largest decreases were in electricity, gas, water and waste services, down 8.2 per cent and Construction down 3.7 per cent. Accommodation and food services recorded the largest rise, up 2.2 per cent following four months of consecutive falls. Mining fell slightly, down 0.3 per cent although showed a strong increase through the year to September 2021, up 40.1 per cent. 

Weekly payroll jobs and wages in Australia between the weeks ending 2 October and 16 October 202l: Payroll jobs, were up 1.3 per cent, while total wages paid was down 0.9 per cent. 

“Payroll jobs increased through the first half of October, as lockdowns and other restrictions eased – particularly in New South Wales up 3.5 per cent, the Australian Capital Territory up 2.4 per cent and Victoria up 0.8 per cent," said head of labour statistics at the ABS, Bjorn Jarvis. 

Company news 

Vicinity Centres (ASX:VCX) reported on a challenging September quarter with no earnings guidance for FY22 provided following a significant impact in NSW and Victoria during lockdowns.

Property giant Ingenia Communities (ASX:INA) has exchanged contracts to acquire the Victorian BIG4 Beacon Resort for $37 million.

IPO

Green Technology Metals (ASX:GT1) started trading today. Their shares issued at $0.20, started trading at $0.47 and are currently at $0.465.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector is Financials, up 1.1 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Materials, down 0.8 per cent.

The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN), trading 7.1 per cent higher at $9.32. It is followed by shares in Kogan.com (ASX:KGN) and National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB).

The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Nearmap (ASX:NEA), trading 3.9 per cent lower at $2.17. It is followed by shares in Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) and Orocobre (ASX:ORE).

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1830.44 an ounce.
Iron ore is 1.5 per cent lower at US$92.45 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 5.5 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 73.75 US cents.

Investor event

The last event for the year is coming up on Tuesday 16 of November with four companies presenting from financial services, wireless technology to pharmaceutical companies. Make your way to fnn.com.au to reserve your free online spot.