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Welcome to Equity Espresso’s Daily Recap.

The Australian stock market rebounded on Thursday with a clean sweep on the sector boards, lifting the ASX 200 index by 0.45% or 34.8 pts. to 7,871.30. Interest-rate-sensitive sectors saw some of the largest gains, with Technology (+1.18%) the best-performing sector, followed by Utilities (+0.94%) and Real Estate (+0.74%). Wisetech Global (+2.47%), Next DC(+2.20%), APA Group (+1.44%) and Goodman Group (+0.52%) were some of the best-performing companies across the three sectors to finish higher.

Gold investors are shining brightly as the precious metal tipped over the US$2,300 mark on Thursday as investors digested the latest comments from the Federal Reserve official in the U.S. The Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that the central bank will need more evidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward the 2% target before cutting interest rates. Evolution Mining (+1.06%), Sandfire Resources (+2.60%) and De Grey Mining (+2.75%) were some of the big movers today.

The price of Copper is also seeing something of a resurgence, hitting a 12-month of also jumped to a 52-week high of US$4.25/Lbs on Thursday, with positive economic data out of China lowering fears of reduced demand from the country.

In company news, Cochlear (+1.11%) is one step closer to acquiring Danish medical technology company Oticon, with the transaction being altered to remove Oticon’s bone conduction solutions business. The ACCC has previously raised competition concerns in relation to this business segment. An independent expert has determined that Seven Groups (-0.10%) bid for Boral (+0.68%) was unreasonable, despite criticisms from Seven calling the report “fundamentally misleading”

Wall Street

U.S. indices finished Wednesday slightly higher after data showed that growth in the U.S. services industry slowed further in March; however, comments from Federal Reserve Jerome Powell indicated rate cuts were on the cards but not until the middle of the year. The NASDAQ (+0.23%) was the best performer of the leading indices, with the S&P 500 (+0.11%) and Dow Jones (+0.11%) trailing.

Seven of the 11 major sectors finished the day higher, with Communication Services (+0.71%) and Energy (+0.66%) leading the way as Crude Oil continues to trade at levels not seen in five months.

In company news, Intel's (-8.2%) stock fell sharply after it reported that its foundry (semiconductor manufacturing) business had an operating loss of $7 billion during 2023. The losses expanded from the $5.2 billion reported in the prior year, with sales also falling to $18.9 billion from $27.5 billion the year prior. Ultra Beauty (-15.3%) stock tanked after it warned that growth was slowing quicker than expected as it expects moderating sales this year. Spotify (+8.2%) stock after Bloomberg reported that the streaming provider was increasing the price of its premium subscription.

S&P500 Sector Performance

Economic Data

• Australian dwelling approvals fell by 1.9% month-on-month to 12,520 units during February, an improvement from the 2.5% drop in January, but was well below the 3.3% growth expected.

• The U.S. ISM services PMI fell to 51.4 in March, from 52.6 in February and was below forecasts of 52.7. The reading was the weakest growth in the services sector in three months.

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Quick Singles

🌎️ Around The Globe

• General Electric has completed a three-way split, separating its aerospace, energy, and healthcare businesses into three distinct companies. The aerospace and energy entities started trading on the New York Stock Exchange this week.

• Amazon will remove its cashierless “Just Walk Out" system from its grocery stores and rely instead on its Dash Cart, which lets shoppers scan items as they go.

• Oilfield services company SLB is set to acquire its rival, ChampionX, in an all-stock transaction valued at $7.75 billion. This marks SLB's second acquisition within a week and represents its largest purchase since 2016 when it acquired Cameron International for $14.8 billion.

• Yahoo is acquiring Artifact, an AI news app created by Instagram co-founders Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom, for an undisclosed amount.

• UBS will start a new $2 billion share buyback, with half of that expected to take place this year. The new program follows the completion of the 2022 buyback, during which 298.5 million of its shares were purchased, representing around 8.62% of the stock.

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ASX Company Movers

Commodity Prices

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Global Health Check

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A Little Extra

📉 Going Down?

Top-10 shorted stocks on the ASX - as of March 27

📂 Broker Ratings

1. QBE Insurance (QBE) - Downgraded to Neutral from Outperform (Macquarie)

👨‍💼 Director Transactions

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

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