Bitcoin Breaks $100k While ASX Takes Baby Steps

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Welcome to Equity Espresso’s Market Recap.

The Australian share market finished higher on Thursday, with the S&P/ASX 200 Index gaining 0.2% or 12.3 pts. to close at 8,474.9. The All Ordinaries also rose 0.2%, boosted by Technology (+1.13%) and Consumer Discretionary (+1.08%) stocks following Wall Street's 56th record high of the year, with six out of eleven sectors posting gains.

The Technology sector was the day’s best performer, following in the Nasdaq’s footsteps. Technology One (+2.82%), Codan (+3.19%), and Wisetech Global (+1.88%) were some of the big movers. The Discretionary sector continues its bumper 2024 run, with Breville Group (+3.69%), Premier Investments (+3.64%) and Wesfarmers (+1.32%) seeing solid gains.

Real Estate (-1.38%) was the worst performer, falling significantly for the second straight day, with Goodman Group (-1.70%) and Scentre Group (-0.41%) giving back some of their bumper 2024 gains.

Bitcoin surged past US$100,000 for the first time on Thursday, marking a historic milestone for the cryptocurrency market. Digital currency experienced a 45% rally in the month following the U.S. presidential election due to enthusiasm for Donald Trump's plans for the crypto sector. Paul Atkins, a well-known advocate for digital assets, has been appointed by Trump as the new SEC Chair, replacing Gary Gensler. The leadership change has generated optimism throughout the cryptocurrency industry, signalling the potential for a more favourable regulatory environment for digital assets.

Company News

• 29Metals (-31.08%) fell after finalising a $154m capital raise at an offer price of $0.27. Shares closed at $0.255.

• HMC Capital (+1.72%) has acquired Neoen's Victorian renewable energy portfolio for $950 million, securing 652 megawatts of existing wind, solar, and storage assets, plus a development pipeline of 2.8 gigawatts.

• Magellan Financial Group (+4.64%) reported a $1.1 billion lift in FUM as of the end of November. However, it reported net outflows of $0.4 billion during the period.

• Restaurant Brands New Zealand (+8.20%) will pay shareholders a dividend of 18 cents per share, with New Zealand residents receiving fully imputed payments.

• Rio Tinto (+0.58%) says it plans to boost its copper production by 18% next year and 40% by 2030 to diversify beyond Australian iron ore.

Wall Street

U.S. stock markets reached fresh record highs on Wednesday, with the NASDAQ (+1.30%) seeing the sharpest rise thanks to a lift in Technology (+1.77%) stocks. The Dow Jones (+0.69%) and S&P 500 (+0.61%) both saw moderate rises, with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments fuelling market optimism.

Jerome Powell's comments at a New York Times event added momentum to the market rally. He noted that the economy has shown more strength than anticipated when the Fed began its rate-cutting cycle in September.

The Consumer Discretionary (+1.20%) and Communication Services (+0.61%) sectors were some of the other strong performers, while Energy (-2.47%) saw a sharp fall with Exxon Mobile (-2.88%) and Chevron (-2.22%) falling.

Chipmaker Marvell Technology's (+23.19%) stock jumped following strong third-quarter results and optimistic revenue guidance. JetBlue Airways' (+8.25%) shares after the airline revised its full-year revenue guidance, citing stronger-than-expected bookings in November and December.

S&P500 Sector Performance

Economic Data

• Australian Exports grew 3.6% from a month earlier to $42.15 billion in October 2024, shifting from a revised 4.7% slump in the previous month.

• U.S. ISM Services declined to 52.1 in November 2024 from 56 in October and well below forecasts of 55.5.

• U.S. New orders for manufactured goods increased by 0.2% from the previous month to $586.7 billion in October of 2024, in line with market expectations, after two consecutive monthly decreases.

• U.S. Private Businesses added 146,000 workers to their payrolls in November 2024, the lowest in three months after a 184,000 rise in October. The result was slightly below forecasts of 150,000.

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Quick Singles

🌎️ Around The Globe

• Amazon is collaborating with Anthropic to build "Ultracluster," reportedly the world's largest AI supercomputer. It will feature hundreds of thousands of Trainium 2 chips and is expected to be five times larger than Anthropic's current cluster.

• China has announced an export ban on key rare minerals, including gallium, germanium, antimony, and superhard materials, to the U.S. The move, which targets materials crucial for satellites, weapons, and semiconductors, comes in response to U.S. restrictions on chip sales to Chinese companies.

• Meta has announced plans to explore nuclear power for its data centres through a request for proposals, seeking developers who can deploy nuclear reactors by the early 2030s.

• Pizza Hut is testing a new restaurant design in Plano, Texas. The design features an open-concept pizza-making station, self-service touchscreen kiosks, and heated pick-up cabinets that allow customers to watch their pizzas being prepared.

• Vietnamese businesswoman Truong My Lan, sentenced to death for orchestrating a $27 billion banking fraud, could avoid execution by repaying $9 billion. While her lawyers claim her assets exceed this amount, they argue she needs time to liquidate real estate and seek better deals without the death penalty looming.

• Walmart has completed its $2.3 billion acquisition of TV manufacturer Vizio, announced in February 2024. The deal aims to boost Walmart's advertising capabilities by leveraging Vizio's user data for targeted advertising.

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