Lauren Ryan from Thinktank speaks to Laurence Parker-Brown for our IN60 series. The Inside Adviser
That consumers are influenced heavily by well known, trusted brands comes as no great surprise. What does, though, is that they rate life insurance as the least most important tool in ensuring financial security.
US debt negotiations transfix market
The Australian share market gave up a small amount of ground on Monday, amid ongoing negotiations on raising the US debt ceiling and avoiding a potentially catastrophic default.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index finished down 16.2 points, or 0.22 per cent, at 7,263.3, while the broader All Ordinaries index walked back 20.8 points, or 0.28 per cent, at 7,450.7.
The biggest mover was EFTPOS machine provider Tyro Payments, which plunged 25.5 cents, or 16.6 per cent, to a six-month low of $1.28 after reporting that Sydney-based private equity firm Potentia Capital Management had shelved its near-$1 billion takeover offer after months of negotiations and due diligence.
All of the Big Four banks were lower, with Commonwealth Bank down 90 cents, or 0.9 per cent; National Australia Bank off 23 cents, also 0.9 per cent, at $26.57; Westpac ending 17 cents, or 0.8 per cent, lower at $21.06; and ANZ losing 18 cents, also 0.8 per cent, to $23.79.
On the tech front, AI-powered sales platform Bigtincan Holdings surged 7.5 cents, or 15 per cent, to 75.5 cents after announcing that it had received several confidential takeover offers since engaging with Morgan Stanley to evaluate a potential sale. Wisetech Global was up $1.81, or 2.5 per cent, to $73.01 and Xero gained $1.50, or 1.4 per cent, to $109.50.
Resources under pressure
In big mining, BHP gained 4 cents to $44.20, and Fortescue also rose 4 cents, in its case, 0.2 per cent to $20.56; but Rio Tinto fell 18 cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $109.24.
Gold miners mostly weakened in the face of a lower gold price; Northern Star was down 12 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $13.19 ; Silver Lake Resources gave up 4 cents, or 3.7 per cent, to $1.04; Newcrest Mining walked back 5 cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $26.95; and Regis Resources slipped 3 cents, or 1.5 per cent, to $2.04; but St Barbara added 2 cents, or 3.4 per cent, to 60 cents.
Lithium stocks were also feeling the pinch of profit-taking, with producer Allkem dropping 60 cents, or 3.9 per cent, to $15.00 and fellow producer Pilbara Minerals down 18 cents, or 3.6 per cent, to $4.81. IGO, which mines nickel and lithium, eased 13 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $14.88; and Mineral Resources, which produces iron ore as well as lithium, fell $1.28, or 1.7 per cent, to $74.74.
Among the project developers, Core Lithium was down 4.5 cents, or 4 per cent, to $1.08; Lake Resources surrendered 2.5 cents, also 4 per cent, to 60.5 cents; Liontown Resources shed 4 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to $2.77; and Piedmont Lithium eased 2 cents, or 2.2 per cent, to 88 cents.
Rare earths producer Lynas Corporation slid 7 cents, or 1 per cent, to $7.31.
In coal, New Hope advanced 4 cents, or 0.8 per cent, to $5.15 as the coalminer announced underlying April quarter earnings of $448.1 million, up 14.8 per cent from the previous quarter and 20.6 per cent from the same quarter last year. Whitehaven Coal eased 3 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to $6.83; and Yancoal lost 10 cents, or 1.9 per cent, to $5.21.
In energy, Woodside Energy advanced 39 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to $34.63; Santos was up 14 cents, or 1.9 per cent, to $7.38; Beach Energy gained 2 cents, or $1.395; and Karoon Energy was unchanged at $2.04.
Small progress in US debt
In the US, President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met at the White House with just ten days left to head off a potential debt default. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reaffirmed the June 1 date as the earliest that the US could be at serious risk of debt default. Both Biden and McCarthy have acknowledged that a main sticking point in the talks remains the question of mandatory spending caps.
The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 140.05 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 33,286.58; while the broader S&P 500 barely moved, up less than one point to 4,192.63, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 62.88 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 12,720.78.
On the bond market, the US 10-year Treasury yield added 3.2 basis points to 3.715 per cent, while the 2-year yield, considered more sensitive to policy changes, gained 7.3 basis points to 4.341 per cent.
In commodities, gold eased US$9.49, or 0.5 per cent, to US$1,971.33 an ounce, the global benchmark Brent crude oil grade lifted 41 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to US$75.99 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 44 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to US$71.99 a barrel.
The Australian dollar was buying 66.5 US cents, up from 66.35 US cents at Monday’s ASX close.
