Medical Breakthroughs to REIT Breakdowns: Monday's Market Movers

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Welcome to Equity Espresso’s Market Recap.

The Aussie market closed lower today, with the major S&P/ASX200 index finishing at 8,235.0 pts., dropping 0.32% or 26.8 pts. on the second-last trading day of the year, following Friday's Wall Street decline as traders reduced risk exposure before year-end. Despite being down 2.6% for December, the ASX is still positioned for its strongest annual performance since 2021, with an 8.8% gain.

The Energy (+1.12%) sector was the day’s best performer as oil futures increased slightly on Monday, with WTI crude trading at around $70.5/bbl. Santos (+1.83%), Ampol (+1.53%) and Whitehaven Coal (+2.25%) were some of the day’s best performers. Eight sectors finished the session lower, with Real Estate (-1.83%) seeing the steepest fall, with sharp drops from GPT Group (-3.67%), Dexus (-3.64%) and Stockland (-2.61%) driving the fall.

Company News

• Astral Resources (-8.33%) has proposed acquiring Maximus Resources (+31.11%) at 7.0 cents per share through an all-scrip takeover while securing a 19.99% stake in Maximus through a share swap agreement.

• ProMedicus (-0.29%) announced a 5-year, $15 million deal with Duke University Health System, where it will implement its Visage 7 Open Archive product.

• Proteomics International Laboratories (+20.66%) shares rose after research in the Human Reproduction journal demonstrated their PromarkerEndo blood test's ability to diagnose endometriosis accurately using 10 plasma protein biomarkers.

Wall Street

Major U.S. stock indexes declined on Friday, with the S&P 500 dropping 1.1%, the NASDAQ falling 1.4%, and the Russell 2000 declining 1.6%. The sectors housing the Magnificent 7 stocks were hit particularly hard, with all members of the group ending lower, while companies like Super Micro Computer (-5.17%), Tesla (-4.95%), Palantir Technologies (-3.73%), and Vistra Corp (-3.07%) were among the S&P 500's worst performers. Netflix (-1.80%) shares also fell despite the company's recent high-profile content releases.

The market weakness was primarily driven by Technology (-1.49%) and growth stocks, marking a downturn at the end of an otherwise positive holiday-shortened trading week. While most companies saw falls, there were some exceptions, with quantum computing company Rigetti Computing (+10.52%) one of the few gainers on the day. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 4.63%, reaching its highest closing level since May 2024.

S&P500 Sector Performance

Economic Data

• U.S. Crude Oil stocks fell by 4.3 million barrels from the previous week in the period ending on December 20th, more than market expectations of a 2.0 million barrel drop.

• U.S. Trade Deficit in goods widened to $102.86 billion in November 2024, above market expectations of a $100.7 billion deficit and after a downwardly revised $98.3 billion in the prior month.

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🌎️ Around The Globe

• China's Electric Vehicle (EV) sales are expected to surpass traditional combustion engine cars for the first time in 2025. E.V. sales are projected to grow 20% to over 12 million units, while conventional car sales are forecast to drop below 11 million.

• Google is reportedly leveraging Anthropic's Claude to benchmark and enhance its Gemini A.I. model, with contractors conducting side-by-side comparisons of both models' outputs.

• Private equity giants KKR and Bain Capital have submitted bids for Seven & i Holdings Co.'s non-core assets, with offers ranging from ¥750 billion to ¥1.2 trillion ($7.6 billion).

• Microsoft and OpenAI reportedly defined artificial general intelligence (AGI) in their 2023 agreement as a system capable of generating $100 billion in profits, with a clause stating OpenAI would cease sharing new technology with Microsoft once AGI is achieved.

• Netflix’s first-ever NFL broadcasts on Christmas Day drew over 24 million viewers for each game. The Kansas City Chiefs versus Pittsburgh Steelers game averaged 24.1 million viewers, while the Baltimore Ravens against Houston Texans matchup attracted 24.3 million viewers.

• New York has enacted legislation requiring fossil fuel companies to pay $75 billion in fines over 25 years to address climate change damages following Governor Kathy Hochul's signing on Thursday.

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*1-year, 3-year and 5-year returns are calculated as of November 30 2024.

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