The S&P/ASX200 gained 11.10 points or 0.15% to 7,372.70, a new 20-day high, despite mixed commodities and distinct sectoral gains and losses.
Over the last five days, the index has gained 2.13% and is currently 3.31% off its 52-week high.
Sectors mixed
Gold languished, down 1.82% – particularly miners Newcrest and Silver Lake (down 2.3% and 4% respectively) – while nickel was up 2.91% and aluminium gained 2.27%.
The financial sector led the charge in early trade but cooled off later in the day – it was up 0.39%, with the ANZ up 1.3%, leading CBA (0.7%), NAB (0.2%) and Westpac even.
Real Estate (0.74%), Information Technology (0.55%) and Consumer Discretionary (0.74%) were also in the green, while losers were Utilities (-0.55%), Materials (-0.34%) and Consumer Staples (-0.20%).
Coles financial data breach
The Latitude Financial data breach has spread to Coles customers, with the supermarket group confirming yesterday that personal information used to issue historical Coles-branded credit cards stolen by a cyber-criminal group.
Last month, Latitude revealed that criminals had stolen 14 million customer records dating back as far as 2005. Data included drivers' licence numbers, names, addresses and dates of birth, as well as passport numbers.
GE Money, Latitude’s previous owner, was responsible for issuing Coles- and Myer-branded credit cards, until it sold its financial business in Australia to the consortium that created Latitude Financial.
Coles said it could not yet confirm how many customers had been affected.
Three things to watch this week
eToro market analyst Josh Gilbert shares his three things to watch in Australia in the coming days.
RBA meeting minutes
“The ASX200 has been on a tear after the RBA paused its hiking cycle, climbing by 1.74% in that time, but last week’s hotter-than-expected jobs report has raised expectations over another hike in May.
“Given this, the RBA meeting minutes released this week will be watched closely to understand the board’s thesis in pausing rates after 10 consecutive hikes.
“A focus will be on the dovish pivot after March’s minutes showed that members agreed that further tightening of monetary policy would likely be required, and therefore investors should watch for that shift in language.”
US earnings season moves into full swing
“Q1 earnings season in the US moves into full swing this week, with heavy hitters Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) handing down their quarterly earnings. Expectations are for S&P500 earnings to decline by 6% this quarter compared with the same period last year, a sharp fall.
“Tesla reported record Q1 deliveries after substantial price cuts saw increased demand. However, the worry now turns to its impressive margins that will likely be affected by the price cuts, given that the broader automaker sector has kept prices high to maintain margins, with average US vehicle prices up in March from a year ago. As a result, earnings expectations are low, and that leaves room to the upside for Elon Musk to do his thing.
“Turning to Netflix, the streaming giant will be hoping to lure back investors after a tough 2022. As with much of the broader Tech sector, expectations are for earnings to decline by 17% year over year for Netflix, but the focus will be on subscriber growth and commentary around its ad-supported tier.
“Netflix looks set to add 2.3 million subscribers, a stark turnaround from the loss of 2 million subscribers in Q1 last year. A number above that will please the street, but anything less, may spook investors over the potential of another slowdown in growth.”
Iron ore giants provide operational updates
“This week sees iron ore giants BHP (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) provide operational updates to investors. With both companies seeing a slower start to the year than they would have liked, expectations are low heading into both these updates.
“However, there is some positivity heading into both these updates, with China’s iron ore imports jumping by 10% in Q1 as the region continues to emerge from its COVID-zero regime. This is a sign that iron ore demand is bouncing back after question marks earlier in the year.
“However, guidance from these two exporters may be skewed to the negative side with bad weather approaching Western Australia, with Cyclone Isla expected to have a severe impact across the mining region.
“Although iron ore prices have fallen around 8% in the last month, production numbers may be higher with this solid Chinese demand.”
The five at five
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Radiopharm Theranostics enters supply agreement with TerThera for isotope used in cancer therapy
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Kaiser Reef raises $900,000 to support expansion of A1 gold production
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Lindian Resources reveals “best continuous intersections yet” at Kangankunde Rare Earth Project
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The one to watch
Pioneer Credit talks tailored solutions to end debt stress
Pioneer Credit Ltd (ASX:PNC) managing director Keith John sits down with Proactive’s Elisha Newell to introduce the company’s business model and its mission to alleviate consumer debt stress. Pioneer works with leading banks and utility providers to acquire portfolios of customers experiencing financial difficulty.
Watch