Evening Wrap: ASX 200 hits breakeven for the week, US futures higher

The S&P/ASX 200 closed 37 points higher, up 0.53%.

The local sharemarket rallied for a second consecutive day – now breakeven for the week, Utilities and Technology stocks led and ANZ flags that spending is failing to keep up with inflation.

Before we dive in, an important notice:

This is the last Evening Wrap for 2022. Our first edition for 2023 will be on Monday, 23 January. I would like to wish all readers a safe and enjoyable festive season. 

Markets

The ASX 200 closed a little off session highs of 0.73% and now 0.05% for the week, from lows of -1.74%.

• Utilities led to the upside thanks to ~1.5% gains from heavyweights Origin Energy and APA Group

• Technology bounced for a second consecutive day but the sector is still down -1.6% for the week. Names like WiseTech, Xero, Altium and NextDC all rallied around ~2%

• Materials was the worst performing sector, stalling after a 2.3% rally on Wednesday

• Energy was another laggard after a 2.6% rally on Wednesday

• 143 of the top 200 advanced (72%)

Economy

ANZ-observed spending from 20 November to 18 December was up 10% compared to the same period in 2019.

• This is despite inflation increasing 10.5% between December 2019 and September 2022

• As well as population growth of 1.8% between December 2019 and June 2022

Commodities 

• Copper +0.9% to US$3.85/lb

• WTI crude +0.3% to US$78.70/bbl

• Gold +0.3% to US$1,819.6/oz

• Iron ore futures fell -1.2% to US$111.55/t

Latest news

Post market brief

The market is in a little bit of an awkward spot.

It bounced where it needed to – off the 200-day moving average and a rough four day losing streak. Still, does a bounce off the 200-day make this more of a technical one, in parallel with Christmas optimism and low liquidity?

In Thursday's Morning Wrap, a table from Carson Investment Group showed that the period between December 20 and January 5 represents one of the strongest times of the year for the S&P 500.

XJO chart (Source: TradingView)

That's all folks! The Evening Wrap will be put on hold until I'm back on leave on Monday, 23 January. I hope you all get to spend some quality time with friends and family, stay safe and I'll see you guys in the new year.

Major announcements

Larger caps (>$1bn)

• BHP (BHP) -0.2%: Entered into a Scheme Implementation Deed with Oz Minerals

• 29Metals (29M) -22.1%: Expects 2022 copper and zinc production to be in the lower half of its guidance range. 2023 copper metal production is expected to be flat year-on-year as the company works through the regulatory approval process for its tailings storage capacity 

Mid-to-small caps

• Green Technology Metals (GT1) +6.9%: Produced ‘very high spodumene concentrate recoveries’ from drilling samples. Further work will continue to be completed for an optimised flowsheet to maximise recoveries 

• Deep Yellow (DYL) +4.4%: Completed a 10,000m follow-up RC drilling program at the Omahola Project, which lies adjacent to its flagship Tumas Project 

• Argosy Minerals (AGY) +3.6%: Confirmed a ‘battery quality 99.76% lithium carbonate’ product from its 2,000 tpa operation during commissioning works 

• Actinogen Medical (ACW) +2.1%: Received an agreement from the FDA to proceed with its six-month, Phase 2b, clinical trial of Xanamem in patients with early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease 

Trading halts

Broker updates 

Scans