Good Evening,

Welcome to Equity Espresso’s Daily Recap. 

Markets fell on Friday despite a positive lead from Wall Street overnight as Energy and Materials dragged the Aussie market lower. The ASX 200 index fell by 0.2% or 11.4pts. to 7,770.60 at the close of trade. However, the index finished 1.2% higher for the week after losing more than 2.0% last week.

Six sectors finished the session lower, as Energy (-1.30%) stocks tracked a lower oil price as Brent Crude fell below US$86.00. Woodside Energy (-1.75%) shares dipped, as did Ampol (-0.79%), while Santos was flat on the day. Iron Ore futures fell below US$110 on Thursday, driving the Materials (-0.87%) sector down as BHP Group (-0.82%), Fortescue (-2.11%) and Rio Tinto (-0.48%) ended the day in the red.

Real Estate (+1.43%) was the best performer of the key sectors, as Goodman Group (+3.39%) continues to surge higher, as does Scentre Group (+1.19%).

Health Care (+1.34%) was another winner, helped by Fisher & Paykel (+7.71%) after upgrading its FY24 revenue and earnings guidance. The company lifted its underlying profit after tax guidance to be approximately $260 million to $265 million—up from $250 million to $260 million. The profit lift was due to a continuation of solid demand for its hospital consumables and a more favourable NZ: US exchange rate than expected.

In late breaking company news, Star Entertainment Group announced sweeping personnel changes after the market close. Group CEO Robbie Cooke will leave the company effective today, which the board says is in the company's best interests as it awaits the outcome of an inquiry into whether it should keep its Sydney gaming licence. Mr Cooke has been in the position since October 22 and will be followed out the door by CFO Christina Katsibouba and Chief Customer Officer George Hughes.

Dubber's chief executive, Steve McGovern, and Melbourne lawyer, Mark Madafferi, have been prohibited from leaving Australia while regulators investigate the disappearance of $30 million from the ASX-listed call recording software company's accounts. Although $3.4 million of the missing funds has been recovered, Dubber is still working to locate the remaining $26.6 million. Dubbers shares remain suspended from trading.

Wall Street

Wall Street's three leading stock indices hit record closing highs for the second day in a row on Thursday, a day after the Federal Reserve reassured investors about the prospects for rate cuts this year. The Dow Jones (+0.68%) was the best performer of the indices, finishing less than 1% away from the 40,000 mark.

The S&P 500 (+0.32%) closed higher, with the semiconductor index rallying 2.3% thanks to a rise in Nvidia (+1.0%) and Broadcom (+5.6%) stock. Investment bank TD Cowen raised its rating of Broadcom to an outperform, causing the stock price to rise. Micron Technology (+14.1%) shares rose sharply, closing at an all-time high price of $109.85 following a surprise quarterly profit and forecasting third-quarter revenue above estimates.

Reddit's shares ended their first day of trading on the public markets up 48% to close at $50.44, in a potential early sign that the IPO window could be back open for promising but not yet profitable companies.

Economic Data

• Japan’s Annual Inflation Rate rose to 2.8% in February, up from 2.2% in the prior month, and hit its highest point since November last year. Costs accelerated most from culture & recreation (7.3% vs 6.8% in January) and communication (1.4% vs 2.1%).

• U.K. Consumer Confidence was unchanged at -21 during March, missing market expectations of a slight improvement to -19.

Sponsor

Trade Like a Pro with IG:
Australia's Top Choice for Investors

IG is Australia's No.1 CFD and FX provider.

Our CFD and share trading services give clients access to over 17,000+ global financial markets.

IG has empowered traders of all kinds to capitalise on opportunities across an ever-growing number of markets.

Join the 320,000+ clients around the world already taking advantage of our award-winning platform.

Get started today ⬇️ 

Get Your Business Featured Here

Take a look at our sponsorship packages to feature your business in Equity Espresso’s newsletter.

Quick Singles

🌎️ Around The Globe

• Intel will receive up to $8.5 billion from the U.S. government to boost its chip production in the U.S. The chipmaker says it plans to invest at least $100 billion to build new plants on shore.

• Bentley Motors is putting a pause on its Electric Vehicle plans. The luxury auto brand said its first E.V. model will not arrive until 2026, and plans to be fully electric by 2030 will also be pushed back.

• Neuralink posted a video on X showing its first implanted patient, Noland Arbaugh, using the implanted device to move a cursor on a computer to play chess online.

• Apple is reportedly close to being sued by the U.S. Justice Department for antitrust violations. The U.S. is accusing Apple of blocking rivals from accessing its iPhone's hardware and software features.

• According to the co-head of the company's international business, Tokio Marine, a Japanese insurance company, could potentially spend around $10 billion on overseas acquisitions.

• According to a Wall Street Journal report, Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein plans to make its supply-chain infrastructure and technology available to global brands.

Markets

ASX Company Movers

Commodity Prices

Bonds

Forex

Global Health Check

Partners

Your Investing Essentials

Become a more informed and better investor with the best research tools from our trusted partners.

Help support the Equity Espresso newsletter by signing up using the links below:

Trading View: The best charting platform money can buy. It is used by over 50 million traders and investors around the world. Signup here

Koyfin: Our platform provides comprehensive investment research on various asset classes, such as equities, fixed income, funds, ETFs, and foreign exchange. Signup here

Tikr: A software analytics platform used to track stocks. Tikr aggregates the best investment resources into one comprehensive platform for a fraction of the price. Signup here

FinTip: An education and content-based app. that includes a competition-based game designed to engage, help and educate to make better investment decisions. Download here

Moomoo: Get a kick start on your trading journey with ten free stocks and a generous interest rate on uninvested cash. Signup here

A Little Extra

📉 Going Down?

Top-10 shorted stocks on the ASX - as of March 15

📂 Broker Ratings

1. Brickworks (BKW) - Downgrade to Hold from Buy (Bell Potter)

2. Sigma Healthcare (SIG) - Downgrade to Hold from Add (Morgans)

3. Sigma Healthcare (SIG) - Downgrade to Sell from Hold (Shaw and Partners)

4. Webjet (WEB) - Downgrade to Neutral from Outperform (Macquarie)

👨‍💼 Director Transactions

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

The Last Word

How are we doing?

We always love hearing from our readers and are always seeking feedback. How are we doing with Equity Espresso? Is there anything you’d like to see more of or less of? Which aspects of the newsletter do you enjoy the most?

Hit reply and say hello - or leave us feedback in the poll below:

What did you think of today’s newsletter?

DISCLAIMER: Please note that the information provided in this newsletter is for educational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. It is not intended to encourage you to buy/sell assets or make financial decisions. We strongly recommend conducting your own research before making any investment decisions.