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Tech was knocked overnight and the trend continued locally today with the rotation out of the hotter stocks, into some of the more ‘boring’ sectors, while property took a breather amidst continued strength in employment which prompted interest rate traders to increase the odds for a hike.
Overnight saw mixed sessions in Europe and across US indices; the UK FTSE edged up +0.3% while the EURO STOXX 50 fell 1.1% as investors anticipate a period of growth-friendly policies and political stability in the U.K. under the newly elected Labour government. Conversely, France continues to deliver uncertainty. In the US, the rotation out of high-flying mega-cap tech stocks into the more rate-sensitive names continued, with the Dow rallying +0.6% while the NASDAQ closed down -2.9%. The Russell 2000 (small cap) index slipped 0.7%, ending its five-day winning streak, which had delivered an advance close to 12% as the market rally broadened out on rate cut expectations.
The ASX200 pushed towards 8100 today, extending July’s gains to 3.8% – so far, trumping July’s average advance of the last decade by 0.8%. While it was a strong session, some selling became obvious late in the day and it wouldn’t surprise MM to see some consolidation play out from here, after a fantastic run.
We are making several changes across portfolios
US equities continue to punch higher with a large degree of “catch-up” unfolding across the board, e.g. while the small caps surged +3.5%, the high-flying Nvidia (NVDA US), Microsoft (MSFT US) and Alphabet (GOOGL US) all declined as investors appeared to go in search of value. The Dow rallied 740 points, delivering its best day in more than a year and posting new all-time highs in the process. Reporting season has kicked off positively, while Industrial bellwether Caterpillar (CAT US) up over 4% overnight, trumped by United Health (UNH US), with the insurer surging +6.5% after delivering better-than-expected second-quarter results. The Financials advanced again after earnings from Bank of America (BAC US) and Morgan Stanley beat analyst expectations, with BAC jumping more than 5%.
A day of consolidation for the ASX with the market getting used to the ‘8 handle’, as recent trends extended i.e. Property up ~1% and resources down ~1% with the hangover of weaker Chinese growth lingering over the sector.
Monday saw all 11 sectors close higher, with the “Big Four” banks, BHP Group (BHP) and CSL Ltd (CSL), all adding to the day’s +0.7% advance. However, less than 70% of the main board closed higher, with buying solid rather than euphoric. The only pocket of the Materials index that struggled after the assassination attempt on Former-President Trump was the lithium/ESG names, with the Republican candidate surging ahead of Biden at the Bookies, e.g. Liontown Resources (LTR) -3%, Pilbara (PLS) -1.3% and IGO Ltd (IGO) -1.2%. A Trump victory is good news for oil & gas as opposed to EVs, etc., as he intends to reverse Biden’s climate policies.
The market smashed through 8000 this morning on a clear breakout of its nearly 6-month-long trading range, hitting an early high of 8037, before tapering off into the back end of the session following softer Chinese GDP. All 11 sectors were higher, though most buying was targeted in the large caps with the Small Ords finishing flat.
The 2nd week of July enjoyed a dovish testimony from Jerome Powell and a lower-than-expected US CPI print (inflation), both bullish for equities, but some sectors more than others. We are now looking for bond yields and interest rates to turn lower over the coming year, which should drive some reversion on the stock/sector front. At MM, we constantly evaluate our performance from a service (survey coming this week) and portfolio performance perspective, and the standout factor of the latter is that our outperformance has come from sector and stock tilts i.e. focussing on being in the right sectors & stocks at the right time, rather than picking market direction
The ASX200 finally popped to fresh all-time highs on Friday, and it looks set to deliver another stellar performance for July—we’re less than halfway through, and it’s already up +2.5%. Over 80% of the main board helped lift the index towards the psychological 8000 level, with the rate-sensitive name leading the advance while the resources stocks continued to rein in the gains.
