Jobs number sends local sharemarket lower
The local sharemarket gave up ground on Thursday after an unexpectedly strong jobs report eroded hopes of another interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia. The unemployment rate fell more than expected to 4.3 per cent in October, from 4.5 per cent. The employment number also surprised, as Australia added 42,200 jobs.
In response, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) tumbled 46.1 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 8,753.4, a 10-week low, while the broader All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) slid 44.9 points, also 0.5 per cent, to 9,034.5.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia Limited (ASX: CBA) rebounded from its recent losses, rising $1.81, or 1.1 per cent, to $160.19; while ANZ Group Holdings Limited (ASX: ANZ) receded $1.91, or 4.9 per cent, to $36.94; National Australia Bank Limited (ASX: NAB) retreated 47 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to $42.20; and Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX: WBC) softened 42 cents, or 1 per cent, to $39.44. Biotech heavyweight CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) firmed $2.87, or 1.6 per cent, to $181.93.
Drone technology stock DroneShield Limited (ASX: DRO) cratered $1.03, or 31.4 per cent, to $2.25, after the market learned that almost $70 million worth of the company’s shares had been sold by the company’s chief executive, chairman and a third director. DroneShield shares have tripled over the past year.
Family-tracking app Life360 Inc. (NASDAQ: LIFE) has also had a torrid week, after a third-quarter update spooked the market. Life360 has lost 17 per cent since it reported, but is still up 77 per cent this year. Elsewhere among the interest rate-sensitive technology cohort, small-business accounting software company Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) slipped $12.64, or 9 per cent, to $127.36 after its operating expenses ratio came in above expectations; data centre operator NextDC Limited (ASX: NXT) gave up 61 cents, or 4 per cent, to $14.53; and logistics software company WiseTech Global Limited (ASX: WTC) surrendered $1.48, or 2.1 per cent, to $68.01.
Lithium leads ASX resources higher
Among the major miners, BHP Group Limited (ASX: BHP) put on 27 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $43.33; Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) gained $1.18, or 0.9 per cent, to $133.65; and Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)advanced 48 cents, or 2.4 per cent, to $20.44.
Lithium was the story of the day, as the price of spodumene (the hard-rock lithium ore that yields most of Australia’s production) pushed back through US$1,000 a tonne, from lows of US$600 a tonne earlier in the year. The spodumene price had plunged from US$8,000 a tonne in late 2022, so this feels like a long-awaited rebound. IGO Limited (ASX: IGO), which mines nickel and lithium, surged 89 cents, or 15.3 per cent, to $6.72; Pilbara Minerals Limited (ASX: PLS) jumped 35 cents, or 10.2 per cent, to $3.78; and Liontown Resources Limited (ASX: LTR) lifted 13.5 cents, or 10.3 per cent, to $1.45; while Delta Lithium Limited (ASX: DLI) advanced 2.5 cents, or 13.9 per cent, to 20.5 cents after sweetening its maiden mineral resource lithium estimate at Mt Ida in Western Australia with one of the world’s highest-grade known resources of rubidium (the deposit also contains gold). Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN), which produces iron ore and lithium, slipped 17 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $51.06, giving back some of its gains earlier in the week.
In gold, Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL) gained 35 cents, or 5.1 per cent, to $7.23; Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM) was up $5.27, or 3.8 per cent, to $143.00; Evolution Mining Limited (ASX: EVN) strengthened 35 cents, or 3 per cent, to $11.85; Capricorn Metals Limited (ASX: CMM) firmed 39 cents, or 2.8 per cent, to $14.59; Northern Star Resources Limited (ASX: NST) advanced 67 cents, or 2.5 per cent, to $27.02; Genesis Minerals Limited (ASX: GMD) put on 15 cents, or 2.4 per cent, to $6.34; and Ramelius Resources Limited (ASX: RMS)appreciated 8 cents, or 2.3 per cent, to $3.64.
Tech turns tail, takes US markets down
In the US, a tech sell-off meant that the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI: DJI) could not hold its ground after notching its first-ever close above 48,000 points on Wednesday. The 30-stock Dow Jones plummeted 797.6 points, or 1.7 per cent, to 47,457.22, while the broader S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPX) gave up 113.43 points, also 1.7 per cent, to 6,737.49, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: IXIC) bore the brunt, leaking 536.1 points, or 2.3 per cent, to 22,870.36.
The Nasdaq was weighed down by significant falls in heavyweights Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) (down 6.9 per cent), Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) (down 4.3 per cent) and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL)(down 2.8 per cent). Tech stocks are sensitive to interest rates, and markets have recalibrated their expectations for a December rate cut. Whereas traders as recently as a few days ago were pricing in at least a two-to-one probability of a 0.25-percentage-point cut, that has now flipped to a coin toss, according to futures markets.
| Australian Indices | Daily % | Weekly % | 1 Month % | 3 Month % | 1 Year % |
| ASX 200 | -0.5 | -0.7 | -1.2 | 0.5 | 9.8 |
| Financials | -1.1 | -3.3 | -0.5 | 4.3 | 11.5 |
| Resources | 0.4 | 3.2 | 4.4 | 13.3 | 27.4 |
| Information Technology | -2.7 | -5.1 | -12.5 | -12.6 | -3.1 |
| Global Indices | Daily % | Weekly % | 1 Month % | 3 Month % | 1 Year % |
| US 500 | -1.7 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 6.4 | 15.4 |
| Europe | 0.3 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 5.8 | 28.9 |
| Japan | 0.3 | -0.8 | 3.5 | 6.0 | 25.1 |
| China top 50 | -0.5 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 6.7 | 39.4 |
| India top 50 | -0.3 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 2.9 | 2.4 |
| Fixed Interest | Daily % | Weekly % | 1 Month % | 3 Month % | 1 Year % |
| Australian Treasury Bond | -0.4 | -0.3 | -0.6 | -0.4 | 5.9 |
| Australian Corporate Bond | -0.1 | -0.3 | -0.5 | -0.2 | 6.4 |
| US Treasury | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 5.5 |
| Cash | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 4.1 |
| Commodities & Crypto | Daily % | Weekly % | 1 Month % | 3 Month % | 1 Year % |
| Gold | 1.8 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 23.1 | 59.1 |
| Silver | 5.3 | 4.7 | 0.1 | 33.6 | 69.5 |
| Crude Oil | -4.1 | -1.5 | -0.7 | -3.7 | -2.9 |
| Bitcoin | -1.6 | -1.9 | -11.8 | -16.3 | 13.4 |