Good Evening,

Welcome to Equity Espresso’s Daily Recap. 

The Aussie market made it six straight days of gains today, largely thanks to a rise in Energy (+1.83%) companies as escalating tensions in the Middle East saw an increase in oil prices. The ASX 200 index closed 23 pts. or 0.3% higher to 7,578.40, only 50 points shy of its all-time high in August 2021.

Brent Crude futures jumped to US$84.00/bbl on Monday - hitting its highest level in two months as a Houthi attack on a Transfigura-operated fuel tanker in the Red Sea stoked fears of further supply disruptions. Woodside Energy (+2.34%), Santos (+1.7%) and Ampol (+0.7%) all finished the day higher.

Real Estate (+1.05%) and Financials (+0.70%) were two other big movers today, while the Technology (-1.17%) and Materials (-0.41%) sectors were the biggest fallers. BHP Group shares fell (-1.41%), while Wistech Global (-2.4%), Xero (-2.9%) and NextDC (-0.4%) also finished the day in the red.

Gold Road Resources plunged 18.4% today after it downgraded its full-year production guidance in its quarterly update today, where it reported 74,359/oz of gold produced during the December quarter - a 15% fall from the previous quarter. Calix was another big mover in the wrong direction, shedding over 20% after it announced that its Leilac-2 project would move to another Heidelberg Materials site. Bapcor (+5.8%) shareholders saw some much-needed green after the company said it expects revenue to increase by 2% YoY in its upcoming half-year earnings reports.

Suncorp Group provided an update on ex-Tropical Cyclone Kirrily, saying that it had received just over 500 claims from customers impacted by the cyclone, almost all of which were house claims. The total cost of natural hazard events for H1FY24 is expected to be $568 million, with $380 million coming from six significant events during the period.

Wall Street

The S&P 500 ended a five-session streak of record highs on Friday, with the U.S. main index falling by 0.07%. The NASDAQ dropped harder (-0.36%), dragged down by Intel’s bleak revenue forecast. Despite Friday's fall, all three major indexes recorded their third straight weekly gain and their 12th weekly advance out of 13.

Intel shares fell 11.9% to a six-week low after it provided a revenue forecast that badly missed estimates. American Express shares rose 7.1% after the company issued full-year guidance that topped expectations.

Economic Data

• Core PCE prices in the U.S. rose by 0.2% during December, in line with market estimates and slightly higher than the 0.1% increase in November.

• Pending Home Sales in the U.S. jumped 8.3% month-over-month in December, beating forecasts of a 1.5% rise and rebounding from a 0.3% fall in November.

• U.S. Personal Spending grew by 0.7% in December from a month earlier, following a 0.4% increase in November and beating market forecasts of a 0.4% rise.

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Quick Singles

🌎️ Around The Globe

• General Motors' self-driving vehicle unit Cruise is being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission over an October collision with a pedestrian.

• Microsoft has laid off approximately 9% of its workers, around 1,900 staff, from its video game division after acquiring Activision Blizzard. The cuts have been made across Xbox and Activision Blizzard, which account for 8% of Microsoft's video game division. The tech giant completed its acquisition of the Call of Duty-maker for $69 billion in October and has since made several changes to its leadership.

• A Hong Kong court on Monday ordered the liquidation of property giant China Evergrande Group, potentially impacting Chinese demand for Australian goods and services.

• Canva is close to completing a share sale that will raise more than $1.5 billion at a valuation of $ 26 billion.

• Ryanair trimmed its profit forecasts for the year ending March after some online travel agents stopped selling its flights, forcing the airline to cut the price of its fares.

• Chinese authorities have approved over 40 artificial intelligence (AI) models for public use in the first six months since the approval process began. According to Chinese media, this step has been taken to help the country catch up with the United States in AI development.

• Toyota Motors said it would suspend shipments of some models, including the Hilux truck and Land Cruiser 300 SUV after irregularities were found in certification tests for diesel engines developed by affiliate Toyota Industries.

Markets

ASX Company Movers

Commodity Prices

Bond Prices

A Little Extra

📉 Going Down?

Top-10 shorted stocks on the ASX - as of January 20

👨‍💼 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.