A day after the release of the decreasing housing approvals, new owner-occupier first home loan commitments in Australia dropped by 8.1 per cent to the lowest level since February 2017, as the overall value of new loan commitments for housing decreased by 5.3 per cent to $22.1 billion in January 2023, attributed to the withdrawal of COVID-19 stimulus measures and increasing interest rates.
Overall, at noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.34 per cent higher at 7,280.
The Australian share market has rebounded, following a promising rebound in the US market after a multi-week sell-off, with gains seen in eight of 11 sectors and the benchmark being outperformed by Material, Healthcare, Tech, Communications, Energy, and Staples.
However, the market is heading for its fourth weekly fall in a row, and S&P 500 futures have slipped 0.2 per cent on hawkish comments from the Fed's Waller and disappointing quarterly revenue from Costco.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 25 points.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector is Materials, up 0.62 per cent. The worst-performing sector is REITs, down 0.28 per cent.
The best-performing large cap is Yancoal Australia
(ASX:YAL), trading 2.44 per cent higher at $6.30. It is followed by shares in WiseTech Global
(ASX:WTC) and New Hope Corporation
(ASX:NHC).
The worst-performing large cap is Ampol
(ASX:ALD), trading 6.15 per cent lower at $30.92. It is followed by shares in Reece
(ASX:REH) and Meridian Energy
(ASX:MEZ).
Asian marketsAsia-Pacific markets rose on Friday, following Wall Street’s gains overnight after Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic said he’s “firmly” in favor of sticking with quarter-point hikes. The central bank took a smaller smaller hike in February, marking the smallest increase since the first of this tightening cycle in March 2022.
The Nikkei 225 rose 0.73 per cent and the Topix was up 0.52 per cent as Japan’s unemployment rate reached 2.4 per cent in January, the lowest level since February 2020. In South Korea, the Kospi gained 0.22 per cent and the Kosdaq rose 0.86 per cent.
Company newsAntilles Gold
(ASX:AAU) has confirmed high grade copper at their El Pilar Oxide Deposit. Mr Brian Johnson, Executive Chairman of Antilles Gold, said that activities in Cuba were transitioning into two distinct arms – one will focus on developing a series of relatively small gold mines within the Minera La Victoria joint venture, and the other on exploring major copper targets. Shares are trading 8.3 per cent higher at 3.9 cents at noon.
Incannex
(ASX:IHL) has announced that it has engaged Catalent to develop and manufacture a psilocybin drug product for clinical trials and potential commercial use.This aims to treat anxiety disorders. Incannex CEO and Managing Director Mr Joel Latham said; “Having our own source of pharmaceutical grade psilocybin not only allows our company to freely undertake clinical trials, it also creates and assists with a number of commercial opportunities.” Shares are trading 7.7 per cent higher at 14 cents at noon.
Australian Gold and Copper
(ASX:AGC) has announced that high grade historic gold mines have been discovered at their South Cobar Project. AGC Managing Director, Glen Diemar said “We originally found these mine workings from satellite data and their proximity relative to the eastern Cobar Fault seemed incredibly important as many of the Cobar mines have similar positions. When we went there, we simply couldn’t believe the extent of the workings and the large amount of material excavated from these old mines. Shares are trading 7.7 per cent higher at 5.6 cents at noon.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1782.70 an ounce.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.27 per cent rise.
One Australian dollar is buying 67.46 US cents.
