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Welcome to Equity Espresso’s Market Recap.

The Australian sharemarket edged lower on Friday, with the S&P/ASX 200 Index falling 0.10% to 8,436.2, despite after hitting a record high yesterday. The market lacked direction, with Wall Streets shit due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, though the ASX still managed a 0.5% weekly gain while U.S. equity futures showed modest gains.

Real Estate (-0.74%) fell the most out of the seven sectors to finish the day lower, with Vicinity Centres (-1.82%), Scentre Group (-1.08%) and Goodman Group (-0.84%) seeing the sharpest falls. Industrials (-0.56%) also dropped, with Transburban (-1.39%) the biggest detractor in that sector.

Materials (+0.82%) were the best-performing sector of the day, with BHP Group (+1.25%), Fortescue (+1.55%) and Rio Tinto (+0.94%) all rising as the price of Iron Ore remained above $102/t.

Economists at AMP, ANZ, and BOQ have shifted their rate cut expectations from February to May, citing persistent high inflation at 3.5% and strong job growth. AMP's Shane Oliver notes a February cut remains possible but would require significant improvements in inflation and unemployment data.

Company News

• Findi Limited (-23.74%) slumped despite reporting a lift in first-half FY25 performance with revenue of $33.9 million (up from $31.8 million in 1H24) and EBITDA of $12.9 million (up from $12.6 million). Despite a statutory net loss of $3.9 million, impacted by growth investments and convertible debenture costs, the company remains on track for FY25 targets.

• Maas Group (+7.61%) rose after completing an upsized $140 million Placement, consisting of a $112 million institutional placement and a $28 million conditional placement to directors and founding shareholders at $4.65 per share.

• Resolute Mining (+4.82%) has made its second settlement payment of US$50 million to Mali's government from existing cash reserves, with a final US$30 million payment expected by the end of 2024. These payments are part of a US$160 million settlement under a November 18 Protocol agreement.

• Select Harvests (-5.39%) reported a significant turnaround in FY2024, achieving a $1.5 million net profit compared to the previous year's $114.7 million loss. The company's almond crop increased 49.3% to 29,527 MT, while almond prices rose 19.6% to A$7.69/kg.

Wall Street

Markets in the U.S. were closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving. President-elect Donald Trump commemorated the day with the below post on X. ⬇️ 

Economic Data

• Germany’s Annual Inflation rate rose to 2.2% in November 2024, up from 2% in October but slightly below market expectations of 2.3%. This marked the highest level in four months.

• Japan’s Unemployment rate ticked up to 2.5% in October 2024 from September's eight-month low of 2.4%, aligning with market estimates.

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Quick Singles

🌎️ Around The Globe

• Amazon is reportedly developing Olympus, an AI model for video analysis, which could launch at the AWS re: Invent conference.

• Australia's competition regulator has granted interim approval for Qatar Airways to acquire a 25% stake in Virgin Australia and begin joint operations in June 2024.

• The Biden administration is reportedly considering new restrictions on semiconductor equipment and AI memory chip exports to China. The measures aim to limit Beijing's tech development further while avoiding the more severe measures initially proposed.

• Canada's Competition Bureau has launched a lawsuit against Google, alleging anti-competitive practices in online advertising. The regulator seeks to force Google to sell two ad tech tools and pay penalties for violating competition laws.

• China has extended tariff exemptions on certain U.S. imports, including rare earth metals, medical disinfectants, and batteries, until February 2025.

• Coffee prices have surged to a 47-year high, with Arabica beans rising 3.9% and gaining nearly 70% this year. The spike is driven by drought conditions in Brazil and adverse weather affecting Vietnam's production, raising concerns about global supply and consumer costs.

• Elon Musk posted on X that he plans to start an AI game studio with xAI, saying he wants to “make games great again.”

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*1-year, 3-year and 5-year returns are calculated as of October 31 2024.

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