genusplus group

Wall Street opened the new trading week lower, retreating from the rally experienced on the NYSE over the last five weeks. The Dow Jones fell 0.11%, the S&P500 dropped 0.54%, and the Nasdaq took the biggest hit, falling 0.84%. The sectors that have carried Wall Street over the last 11 months took the biggest hit on Monday as investors digest the high valuations of big-name companies especially in the technology sector.

Alaska Air fell 14.2% on Monday after it agreed to acquire rival airline, Hawaiian Airlines for US$1.9bn in a bid to expand Alaska Air’s presence to the West Coast of the US.

Spotify shares rose 8.8% on Monday after the music streaming giant announced it would lay off 17% of its workforce, which equates to around 1500 jobs in a bit to cost cut in the high-cost environment.

Over in Europe, markets closed mostly lower on to start the week as the big miners weighed on markets in the region, while gold miners bucked the trend with a rally on the back of the precious commodity hitting a record high US$2100/ounce. Analysts are predicting the price of gold will remain resilient into 2024 on outlook of a weaker USD, geopolitical uncertainty and the prospect of interest rate cuts on the horizon. The STOXX600 fell 0.1% on Monday, Germany’s DAX rose 0.04%, the French CAC fell 0.2% and, in the UK, the FTSE100 lost 0.22%.

Locally yesterday, the ASX200 kicked off the new trading week on a very positive note with the key index ending the session up 0.73% buoyed by interest-rate sensitive sectors, with the tech sector rising 1.9%, while real estate added 1.55%. On the other end of the market, the utilities sector fell 2.52% while energy stocks lost 1.26% on the sliding price of oil.

Chalice mining recovered 11.47% on Monday despite no price sensitive news out of the copper-nickel miner yesterday. Star Entertainment Group gained 6.86% on Monday while the lithium miners came under pressure yesterday with Sayona Mining falling 9.68%, Core Lithium shedding 5.56% and Pilbara Minerals ending the day down 2.22%.

What to watch today:

• Ahead of the local session here in Australia the SPI futures are expecting the ASX to open Tuesday’s session down 0.53%, taking lead from Wall Street overnight.
• Taking a look at commodities this morning, oil continues to decline despite OPEC+ announcing production cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day in a bid to stabilise the price of oil, which is trading 1.07% lower at US$73.28/barrel. Gold is down 2% this morning at US$2029/ounce and iron ore is up 0.4% at US$133/tonne.
• On the economic calendar today the highly anticipated RBA interest rate decision is announced today with the expectation of the interest rate to be maintained at the current 4.35%.
• Stocks trading ex-dividend today include Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation and Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure. If you’ve been thinking about these stocks, it might be worth considering buying in today as stocks trading ex-dividend, generally trade lower on the ex-dividend date.

Trading Ideas:

• And Bell Potter has maintained a speculative buy rating on Deep Yellow (ASX:DYL) and a 12-month price target of $1.81 after the uranium miner added an additional approximately 1.5 years of production to the Tumas project, with the expanded indicated and inferred resources. Looking into CY24, some key catalysts include a Final Investment Decision on Tumas, refreshed capital and operating costs for Tumas, and Mulga Rock updated definitive feasibility study.
• And Bell Potter has slightly increased the price target on Genusplus Group (ASX:GNP) from $1.40 to $1.50 and maintain a buy rating on the mining services provider following the Genusplus and its JV partner ACCOINA being awarded a $1.4bn design and construction contract for the HumeLink East project by Transgrid.

The local market managed to close with a small gain of 0.08% yesterday, a 10-week high for the benchmark ASX200 index. Sectors wise, the materials sector posted the biggest gain, and the financials, utilities and consumer staples sectors also lifted. While the remaining sectors posted losses, with the tech sector down the most. 

Looking at the ASX200 leaderboard, materials stocks led the way, with seven making the top 10 list, including BHP Group (ASX:BHP) up 2.3%, fertiliser company, Incitec Pivot (ASX:IPL) up 2.3% and Champion Iron (ASX:CIA) up 2.2%. On the flipside, tech shares were amongst the worst performers, with Xero (ASX:XRO), Tyro Payments (ASX:TYR), Novonix (ASX:NVX) and WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) posting losses. 

The most traded stocks by Bell Direct clients yesterday, included Woodside Petroleum (ASX:WPL), Westpac (ASX:WBC) and Telstra (ASX:TLS). Westpac’s share price is up about 10% from the start of this year and Citi are optimistic on the stock, naming Westpac as its top choice compared to the other big four banks. 

Moving to the US, all three benchmarks are in the green, with the Nasdaq up the most. This was thanks to a modest 8% jump in Telsa’s share price, after the electric vehicle maker said it wants to split its stock to pay a stock dividend. Energy stocks slid alongside the price of oil, which we will touch on shortly.

What to watch today: 

• The futures are suggesting that the Aussie share market is set to open 0.52% higher this morning.  
• Economic news wise, retail sales for February will be released today. This estimates the turnover and volumes for retail businesses, including store and online sales. 
• Tonight, all eyes will be on the 2022-23 Federal Budget that will be announced at 7.30 pm (AEDT). It’s a pre-election budget, with the election less than a couple of months away.
• In commodities, the oil price slid over 9% as new lockdowns in Shanghai prompted fears of a slowdown in demand, given China is the world’s largest oil importer. The WTI crude oil price has fallen to around US$103 a barrel. The gold price also fell about 1.8% on a firmer US dollar and yields. On the flipside, the spot iron ore price is trading 2.8% higher to US$146 a tonne.
• Sigma Healthcare (ASX:SIG) is set to release its financial year 2022 results.

Trading Ideas: 

• Bell Potter have maintained its BUY rating on electric services company, GenusPlus Group (ASX:GNP) and have increased its price target to $1.72 (previously $1.40). Bell Potter maintain their positive view on GNP’s demand outlook. This is supported by planned upgrades to east coast interconnector infrastructure, ageing distribution infrastructure and structural tailwinds in renewables investment. GNP closed about 0.8% lower yesterday to $1.21, which implies about 42% share price growth in a year. 
• Trading Central has a bullish signal on NEXTDC (ASX:NXT), indicating that the stock price may rise from the close of $11.08 to the range of $12.40- $12.70 in the next 24 days according to standard principals of technical analysis. 

The Aussie share market is set to open higher, with the futures suggesting the market will rise 0.2%. 

What to watch today: 

• The 15 day moving average has just nudged above the 30 day moving average. This indicates a technical uptrend is forming. But, as the moving averages lines are virtually on top of each other, the market could go either way from here. 
• In economic news, GDP data will be released today. 
• The RBA forecasts GDP for the full year to be 4.75%. Banks expect unemployment to fall to 5% this year. Bond yields will likely rise. 
• Iron ore price rose 4.1%, heading back to its all time high. Watch Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN). 
• Most traded stocks by Bell Direct clients yesterday: Fortescue Metals (ASX:FMG) & Magnetite Mines (ASX:MGT).

Trading Ideas: 

• GenusPlus Group (ASX:GNP) had its price target upgraded by Bell Potter, with a new $1.25 target, following yesterday’s 6% jump.
• BUBs Australia (ASX:BUB), Ava Risk Group (ASX:AVA) Atomos (ASX:AMS) are all giving off bullish charting signals according to Trading Central.