Good Evening,

Welcome to Equity Espresso’s Daily Recap. 

The ASX 200 index continued to claw its way closer to a record high, finishing the first trading day of the year 37.0 pts or 0.49% higher to 7,627.80 and within striking distance of the all-time high of 7,628.90 set on August 13, 2021.

It was almost a clean sweep on the boards, with 10 of the 11 sectors ending the day higher, as Energy (+1.50%) led the way with Woodside Energy (+1.34%), Santos (+1.25%) and Ampol (+1.26%) all higher. Real Estate (-0.66%) was the sole sector to finish lower. Brent Crude Oil prices rose above US$78/bbl on Tuesday after Iran sent a warship to the Red Sea in response to the U.S. Navy’s sinking of three Houthi boats over the weekend.

Over in Asia, Chinese shares dragged down equities during their first trading day of the year following weaker-than-expected factory data and a speech from President Xi Jinping, which flagged economic headwinds.

In ASX company news, Eagers Automotive provided an update today regarding a cybersecurity incident reported to the market in late December. The incident caused an outage that has affected certain parts of the company's operations in Australia and New Zealand. Eagers said the outage was caused by a third party's unauthorised access to certain parts of the company's IT system. OpenLearning has acquired three higher education marketplaces, expanding its student acquisition capabilities to customers. The three marketplaces attract over 800,000 users across 15,000 courses and degrees from 70 institutions.

Economic Data

• The NBS Manufacturing PMI in China unexpectedly fell to 49.0 in December, from 49.4 in November, missing market estimates of 49.5. It was the third straight month of contraction in factory activity.

• The NBS Non-Manufacturing PMI for China increased to 50.4 in December, from November's 11-month low of 50.2, marking the 12th straight month of expansion activity in the sector.

• South Korean exports rose by 5.1% during December, below expectations of a 6.6% increase, down from the 7.7% gain in November.

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Quick Singles

🪃 Local News

• Economists think the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will start cutting interest rates in September, believing rates will remain at 4.35% for most of the year. The AFR surveyed economists expect the RBA will lag other central reserve banks in cutting rates, including the U.S, ECB and Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

🌎️ Around The Globe

• Dutch-based ASML Holdings cancelled the shipment of some of its machines to China as requested by the U.S. Government. The cancellation occurred weeks before the export bans on high-end chipmaking equipment take effect in the Netherlands.

• Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund was the world’s most active sovereign investor last year, deploying $31.6 billion in capital according to research consultancy Global SWF, well up from the $20.7 billion it invested in 2022.

• Macau’s casino industry bucked the trend in China’s weakened consumer spending during December, as gaming revenue rose by over 400% during the month.

• Singapore’s GDP grew by 1.2% during 2023, according to estimates beating expectations of a 1.0% increase.

• Moeller-Maersk paused transit through the Red Sea on Monday after one of its vessels was attacked by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. Vessels travelling through the Red Sea will be suspended for up to 48 hours to assess security.

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A Little Extra

📉 Going Down?

Top-10 shorted stocks on the ASX - as of December 22

👨‍💼 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.