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Good Afternoon and welcome to Market Close for Tuesday, I’m Jon Davidson. The US government shutdown deal wasn’t enough to save sentiment down under for a second day, but that was largely because Commonwealth Bank shares falling -6% brought down the entire market with it.
But there was room for optimism elsewhere. For one, lithium looks like it’s back; Spodumene prices are above $1,100 a tonne USD for the first time in over a year. That’s largely to do with CATL’s ongoing Chinese mine closure, and, forecasts from JPMorgan and Citibank that Big Battery energy storage demand can easily boost demand for the battery metal. But we’re probably not going to see 2022 all over again.
Elsewhere, gold continues to climb back up; JPMorgan anticipate the yellow metal to hit $5000 by the end of next year. Anyway, let’s turn to companies in the green.
Control Bionics soared on Tuesday after it announced its integrating Apple’s software into its augmented communication healthcare tech; however the company looks like it’s on the cusp of a capital raise if its latest 4C is anything to go by.
Pilbara Minerals meanwhile jumped nearly +8% in the final hour as lithium dynamics look healthier, but the company recently distanced itself from resuming full-on spodumene auctions anytime soon.
Finally, casino machine and gambling app company Light & Wonder jumped +10% as conviction in the stock continues to feed off a recent well-received earnings report.
Looking at the reds,
Commonwealth Bank down -6% at one stage intraday as investors weren’t too keen on the banks falling net interest margin and the revelation it’s facing increased costs; though the company did point to a slight reduction in mortgage arrears.
Life360 meanwhile fell despite posting fairly solid revenue growth numbers, the problem appeared to be the company’s profit just south of $10M which was effectively half made up of interest income, meaning that if you exclude that metric, profits really came in closer to $5M.
Finally, Coronado Global Resources sunk nearly -30% in the final hour as the coal miner’s latest earnings saw the company post a loss, and on top of that, ratings agencies have also downgraded the stock. True believers are unlikely to consider that coal is still a story of writing on the wall.
That’s Market Close for Tuesday, I’m Jon Davidson, have a great night and we’ll see you on Wednesday.
