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Welcome to Equity Espresso’s Daily Recap. 

The Aussie market started the day lower but clawed back some ground in the afternoon, with ASX 200 ending the day only 7.7 pts or 0.10% to 7,498.30 after a mixed session on Wall Street with the U.S. reporting better than expected inflation figures for December that raised caution on equity markets.

Seven of the 11 major sectors on the ASX closed lower, with Utilities (-1.39%) and Staples (-1.21%) falling the most, while Energy (+0.53%) was the best performer as the price of oil rose after the U.S. and U.K launched airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen. The price of Brent Crude rose by 2.5% to US$79/bbl. Also helping the sector was the price of Uranium, which only knows one way at the moment, climbing again to trade at US$92.00/bbl. Paladin Energy (+1.69%) and Boss Energy (+4.95%) were just some of the Uranium companies to finish higher on the ASX.

Core Lithium was among the best performers on the ASX 200 today, finishing 7.7% higher to $0.21 after its share price fell by 17% earlier in the week. Syrah Resources rose 1.9% to $0.52 after the company said the ramp-up of its U.S. project would be hampered by the cold weather set to hit Louisiana next week, but it expects to begin production by the end of January. Nuix shares fell 13% to $1.83 after the company said it expects to take an earnings hit amid mounting legal costs from its court battle with ASIC.

Wall Street

The U.S. market barely budged on Thursday as a hotter-than-expected inflation report and signals of a stronger labour market dampened hopes of an early interest rate cut. Equity markets did open the day higher, as the S&P 500 briefly surpassed its all-time high before ending the day down 0.07%. The Dow Jones closed 0.04% higher, while the NASDAQ finished the day flat.

Almost all major sectors finished the day in red, with Energy (+0.16%) and Technology (+0.44%) the only two to end the day positively. Crypto stocks have been in focus after the U.S. SEC approved the first Bitcoin ETFs. Coinbase (-6.7%), Bitfarms (-13.33%) and Riot Platforms (-15.82%) reversed early gains to end the day significantly lower.

Economic Data

• U.S. Annual Inflation rose to 3.4% in December, from a five-month low of 3.1% in November, which was higher than market forecasts of 3.2%, as energy prices went down slower than expected.

• China's Consumer Prices fell by 0.3% YoY in December, marking the third straight month of declines, the longest drop streak since October 2009.

• China's Producer Prices shrank by 2.7% YoY in December, softer than a 3.0% drop in November and lower than market estimates of a 2.6% decline.

• Chinese Imports increased 0.2% YoY to US$228.2 billion in December, slightly below market forecasts of a 0.3% rise following a 0.6% fall in November.
  

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Quick Singles

🪃 Local News

• The recent outbreak of violence in Papua New Guinea has forced several major Australian companies operating in the country to close their offices. Westpac and ANZ, the two Australian banks with a presence in PNG, have shut down their branches and corporate offices since Thursday. The unrest in the region has led to the death of at least 16 people this week, with soldiers and police now patrolling Port Moresby. In response, the government has declared a 14-day state of emergency.

🌎️ Around The Globe

• Software platform SAP will pay $220 million in a coordinated global settlement over charges it bribed various government officials across the world between 2014 and 2022.

• Walmart is continuing its push into the A.I. realm, unveiling two new AI-powered tools at the CES conference in Las Vegas to help shoppers quickly search for products and automate the re-ordering of frequently ordered items.

• The GPT Store, a marketplace for custom chatbots created by OpenAI, is now open after being postponed due to leadership turmoil last year.

• It has been uncovered that Spirit AeroSystems, maker of the door plug that blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight last week, was sued last month over “sustained quality failures.”

• Tesla has started selling a restyled version of its Model 3 in North America, Codenamed “Highland”, a restyled Model 3 that went on sale in China in September 2023 and Europe last October.

• Fujitsu is facing pressure for its involvement in a scandal where faulty software it developed led to the wrongful conviction of hundreds of Post Office workers in Britain.

• Google is laying off hundreds of employees across multiple teams, including Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman, as the tech giant continues to cut costs.

   

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A Little Extra

📉 Going Down?

Top-10 shorted stocks on the ASX - as of January 8

👨‍💼 Director Transactions

What are the insiders doing? (On-market trade only)

DISCLAIMER: None of the information provided in this newsletter should be constituted as financial advice. This newsletter is strictly for educational purposes only. It should not be taken as investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell assets or make financial decisions. Please do your research.