Magellan Continues to Fall

Markets started slowly but continued to climb throughout Friday, with the ASX200 finishing the day 46.00 pts or 0.65% higher, ending the week at 7,109.60. This came despite a weak lead from Wall Street overnight as a stronger-than-expected unemployment report may concern investors that the Fed could be more aggressive with rate rises.

Despite the rise on the ASX 200 Index, only four sectors finished the day in the green, with the Materials sector leading the way, increasing by 3.03%. This was followed by the Energy sector, which rose on the day by 1.59%. The Real Estate sector was the worst performer, decreasing by 1.10% on the day.

Lithium shares were popular again today, with Core Lithium and Liontown Resources both leading the way with their share prices increasing by 8.56% and 8.33% respectively.

Economic News

US Unemployment - The number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits declined to 204,000 in the week ending December 31st, down from 223,000 in the previous week.

Quick Singles

• Gold stocks rose today, with Newcrest Mining (ASX:NCM) (+2.4%), St Barbara (ASX:SBM) (+2.3%) and Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN) (+1.9%) leading the way

• Warrego Energy Ltd (ASX: WGO) received a second supplemental bidder's statement from Strike Energy (ASX:STX) and a first supplementary target's statement pertaining to the Hancock takeover. The share price was down 1.3% to $0.38.

• In overseas news, Samsung Electronics’ quarterly profit dropped by about 69 per cent, hurt by sliding memory chip prices

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Top Story

Magellan FUM Drops Again

The share price of Magellan Financial Group (ASX: MFG) fell by 10.5% to $8.68 today crashing back down to earth after a recent comeback. Investors sold off hard in response to Magellan's latest funds under management (FUM) December report.

According to the announcement, Magellan concluded December with $45.3 billion in FUM. This includes $20.6b in worldwide equity investments, $16.2b in infrastructure equity investments, and $8.5b in Australian equity investments. Since November, its FUM under management has decreased by $4.9b, or 10%, to $45.3b.

The company saw $2.6b in net outflows during the month, including $0.6b in net retail outflows and $2.0b in net institutional outflows. Additionally, unfavourable foreign exchange fluctuations adversely on the value of company assets.

Movers and Shakers

✅Biggest Winners

The Core Lithium (ASX: CXO) share price was up 8.6% to $1.21, leading the way for Lithium stocks. Core Lithium announced on Thursday that it has transported 15,000 dry metric tons (dmt) of 1.4% Li2O spodumene Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) from the Finniss Lithium Operation to a Chinese customer. Core Lithium sold the lithium for $951 per dmt, valuing the shipment at around $14.3m.

BHP Group (ASX: BHP) share price rose by 3.2% to $47.51 leading the mining sector today to be the biggest riser by market cap.

❌ Biggest Losers 

Star Entertainment's (ASX: SGR) share price fell by 1.4% to $1.81 today. Concerns about a new gambling tax proposal may have put selling pressure on the casino and resort operator. The planned casino tax amendments by the NSW government, according to Goldman Sachs, "represent a considerable profits risk for SGR's Sydney casino."

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) share price fell 2.4% to $0.6 after bouncing off its recent lows of $0.50 in late December with some potential profit taking by investors. Zip still remains one of the most shorted stocks on the ASX. As of the 30th of December, 7.39% of the stock was shorted making it 9th on the ASX.

Small-Cap of the Day

Winsome Exploration Update

Winsome Resources Ltd. (ASX: WR1) share price increased by 30.4% to $1.63 today following the release of a drilling update by the lithium exploration this morning.

According to the announcement, Winsome Resources discovered 1.34% lithium oxide across 107.6 meters at a hole that was part of the Adina project in Quebec, which is located in Canada. This included high-grade junctions of up to 2.21% Li2O over a distance of 30.0 meters between the heights of 41.0 and 71.0 meters.

Econcomic Calender

Outlook

Employment and Payroll data in the US are the big items to round out the week

7th January

• US Non-farm payrolls - est. 200k

• US Unemployment rate - est. 3.7%

That's it from the team at ASX-News today. We hope you enjoyed our EOD wrap-up. Good night and happy investing!