It was a very cautious day for the Australian share market, which finished trading at a one-month low.
The ASX 200 fell in and out of negative territory in morning trading, as concerns about a global recession continue to weigh on investor sentiment.
See how the trading day unfolded on our live blog.
Disclaimer: this blog is not intended as investment advice.
Live updates
ASX closes 0.2% lower
By David Chau
Here's how markets were looking at 4:15pm AEDT:
- ASX 200: -0.2% at 7,134
- All Ords: -0.2% at 7,321
- Aussie dollar: 67 US cents (up 0.3%)
-
Spot gold: steady at $US1,792 an ounce
- Brent crude: +0.9% to $US79.75 a barrel
- Iron ore: -1.9% to $US109.40 a tonne
- Bitcoin: -0.8% to $US16,707
Markets got a "wake-up call" last week after the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank all hiked rates by 0.5 percentage points, according to Win Thin, head of global currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman.
"With the growing realization that the world's central banks are not going to reverse course at the first sign of economic weakness, markets are starting to price in rising recession risks next year," Mr Thin wrote in a client note.
"Bad news is no longer good news. Bad news is now ... bad news."
David Jones sold to Australian private equity firm
By David Chau
The 184-year-old department store chain David Jones has been sold to an Australian private equity firm, Anchorage Capital, for an undisclosed sum.
For the past eight years, David Jones was owned by a South African company called Woolworths (which has no connection with the Australian supermarket chain).
Woolworths paid more than $2 billion for David Jones in 2014.
In hindsight, this turned out to be excessive amount for the struggling department store — as Woolworths wrote down more than $1 billion from the value of DJs (in 2018 and 2019).
“The Anchorage team will work closely with CEO Scott Fyfe and the talented David Jones management team on the next phase of its transformation," a spokesperson from the private equity firm said.
“Under this team’s stewardship, David Jones is now profitable, cash-generative, and self-funding, and we are confident in David Jones’ next chapter as the retailer of the future with a seamless omnichannel experience."
This deal is expected to be finalised by late March 2023.
Gold shines, while Star casino plummets
By David Chau
Only two sectors finished in positive territory today — energy and materials.
It was driven mainly by gold mining stocks, including Evolution Mining (+4.3%), New Hope Corporation (+4%), Silver Lake Resources (+3.4%) and Northern Star Resources (+3.4%).
On the flipside, Star Entertainment was the worst performer, on worries the NSW government's proposed increase to casino taxes will erode the company's earnings.
Star's share price plunged 17.8% (down to $2.12, its lowest level since April 2020).
Among the other stocks to post heavy losses were Imugene (-9.1%), Kelsian Group (-3.3%), Block (-2.9%) and Reliance Worldwide (-2.9%).
Elon Musk's future as Twitter's boss
By David Chau
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has launched a Twitter poll, asking whether he should step down as CEO of the social media company.
More than 9 million users have voted so far, and a clear majority (56.5%) want him to resign.
Mr Musk says he'll abide by the results, though the poll is open for another seven hours.
Our reporter Andrew Thorpe has written this article explaining what's going on.
Gas giants fighting a 'losing battle'
By David Chau
In a bid to stave off price controls on a tiny portion of domestic gas supply, gas companies are saying global investors will look elsewhere to source supplies.
That, they claim, will result in gas shortages and even higher prices.
But after almost eight years of soaring east coast energy bills, Australian manufacturers and even service industries have had enough.
And with households up in arms at the prospect of massive energy price hikes, the gas giants have found themselves fighting a losing battle.
Here's the latest column from our business editor Ian Verrender.
Twitter cracks down on 'free promotion' of other social media sites
By David Chau
Twitter users will no longer be able to link to certain rival social media websites.
These include what the company describes as "prohibited platforms" Facebook, Instagram and Mastodon.
It's the latest move by Twitter's new owner, Elon Musk to crack down on certain speech after he shut down a Twitter account last week (that was tracking the flights of his private jet).
You can read more about it here!
Star casino blindsided by proposed NSW tax hike
By David Chau
Shares of Star Entertainment have plunged to their lowest level in 2.5 years.
They're trading at $2.29 (after an 11.2 per cent drop).
It was after the New South Wales government said it planned to increase taxes on casino poker machine operators from July 2023.
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said this could raise an extra $364 million for the state over the next three years — and the money could be used to fund essential services (like helping communities recover from the impacts of COVID-19, bushfires and floods).
However, Star said it had not been consulted on this matter. The company said it's "seeking to urgently engage" with the state government on the "sustanability" of these proposed tax hikes.
Lacklustre day for markets
By David Chau
Here's how markets were looking at 12:15pm AEDT:
- ASX 200: flat at 7,147
- All Ords: flat at 7,335
- Aussie dollar: 67.1 US cents (up 0.3%)
-
Spot gold: steady at $US1,792 an ounce
- Brent crude: up 0.8% to $US79.67 a barrel
- Iron ore: down 1.9% to $US109.40 a tonne
- Bitcoin: down 0.4% to $US16,763
All up, a very subdued trading day!
Star Entertainment is today's worst performer
By David Chau
On the flip side, the worst performing stocks on the ASX 200 include AMP, fund manager Magellan Financial and electronic payments firm Block.
The embattled casino operator Star Entertainment has, by far, suffered the biggest falls.
Star's share price tumbled after the company released a statement to the ASX, saying it “is seeking to urgently engage with the NSW government” over proposed gambling tax increases, due to begin next year.
Gold stocks leading the gains
By David Chau
Taking a look at today's best-performing stocks, it's clear most of them are gold miners, like Evolution Mining, Northern Star Resources, Gold Road Resources, Perseus Mining and Regis Resources.
It comes after a sizeable jump (+0.9%) in gold prices on Friday.
Gold has traditionally been considered a "hedge against inflation".
It's the idea that when the cost of living rises, the value of your money will decrease, but the precious metal will retain its value (at least, according to gold's biggest supporters).
"Gold may be getting a mild safe-haven bid as the US and global stock markets are selling off in the wake of still-hawkish major central banks," according to OANDA's senior analyst Edward Moya.
ASX opens 0.1% lower
By David Chau
Good morning!
David Chau from the ABC business team here, bringing you the latest market news.
The local share market has begun its day practically flat, despite significant falls on Wall Street, European markets and oil prices.
This is what's happening so far:
- The ASX 200 is down 0.1 per cent, to 7,143 points
- The Australian dollar is buying 66.9 US cents (up 0.1 per cent)
- Spot gold is steady at $US1,792 an ounce
Investors are trading cautiously, with no sign of a "Santa rally" just yet.
That's after the world's major central banks (in particular, the US Federal Reserve) indicated they're prepared to keeping lifting interest rates, in a desperate bid to bring inflation down —and potentially cause a global recession.
Here's how overseas markets (and oil prices) fared last Friday:
- Wall Street: Dow Jones (-0.9%), S&P 500 (-1.1%), Nasdaq (-1%)
- European stocks: FTSE (-1.3%), DAX (-0.7%), CAC (-1.1%)
- Brent crude oil down 2.7% to $US79.04 a barrel
