Tech lifts ASX, Brambles sinks

A bounce in US tech stocks was not enough to lure investors back to struggling automaker Tesla ahead of what is widely anticipated to be its worst earnings result since it joined the S&P 500.

The electric vehicle manufacturer was the only one of the so-called magnificent seven – which includes Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and Nvidia – left behind in a relief rally that swept the Nasdaq on Monday.

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Shares in gold miners have been pummelled as the precious metal lost its safe haven appeal on fading tensions in the Middle East.

Regis Resources, St Barbara and Ramelius sank nearly 5 per cent. Northern Star shed 4.6 per cent, Silver Lake Resources fell 4.2 per cent and Evolution Mining shaved off 2.9 per cent.

This came as gold prices retreated to their lowest levels in more than two weeks on easing concerns that the Middle East conflict would spread into a region-wide war.

Spot gold fell 0.9 per cent $US2305.99, having climbed an all-time high of $US2,431.29 this month. Gold has leapt 13 per cent this year.

Copper is headed to $US10,000 a tonne as traders ramp up bets that miners will struggle to adequately increase supply to meet booming demand for the industrial metal.

The rally boosted ASX copper producer Sandfire Resources to a record $9.34 on Monday.

Copper climbed as much as 1.1 per cent to $US9988 a tonne, settling 0.2 per cent lower at $US9853 a tonne, near its two-year high.

It comes amid evidence of improving manufacturing activity in the US and China, coinciding with a string of supply disruptions at major mines.

“We’re seeing some green shoots in the global industrial cycle and so an upswing in metals demand seems to be under way,” said Paul Bloxham, HSBC’s top commodities economist.

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More planes are landing on time than at any time in the past two years as the country’s biggest airlines bring service back to levels only seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 77 per cent of domestic flights arrived on time in March, up from 71 per cent in the same month last year, according to figures released by the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics.

That is closing in, but well below, the longer-term average of 81 per cent of flights arriving on time.

Lengthy delays have plagued Qantas and Virgin Australia since travel restrictions introduced during the pandemic were eased in late 2022 and early last year.

The major airlines have grappled with a lack of staff and high levels of sickness, while shortages have also constrained the operation of air traffic control in big airports.

By November, almost half of all Virgin flights were cancelled or delayed, while Qantas domestic services were also regularly running behind schedule.

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New Zealand must encourage a Macquarie-like “maverick” bank to shake up subdued home loan competition in its big four-dominated market rather than lowering hurdles for smaller lenders to grow, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand says.

It represents a major rejection of the New Zealand Commerce Commission’s draft report into the sector, which said the central bank’s capital settings pushed up loan pricing and argued that fewer anti-money-laundering rules would benefit competitor banks and fintechs.

Some of these initial findings aimed to ensure that the government-owned Kiwibank is more competitive.

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Shares romped higher in the early afternoon on Tuesday, tracking a tech-driven rally on Wall Street ahead of US corporate earnings and key Australian inflation data for clues on the Reserve Bank’s next interest rate move.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.4 per cent or 33.7 points, extending Monday’s 1.1 per cent gains following a painful week.

Out of the 11 sectors, energy, materials and industrials were in the red while tech led gains.

The big four banks rose and investors shrugged off a $164 million charge reported by Westpac.

The mining giants edged up, with Rio Tinto and BHP 0.3 per cent higher but Fortescue 0.3 per cent lower.

Gold miners suffered as the precious metal lost its safe haven appeal on fading tensions in the Middle East. Spot gold prices fell 0.9 per cent $US2,305.99, having climbed an all-time high of $US2,431.29 earlier this month. Gold has leapt 13 per cent this year.

Regis Resources, St Barbara and Ramelius sank nearly 5 per cent. Meanwhile, Northern Star fell 4.2 per cent following mixed results in the third quarter.

“We consider the better grades of the Golden Pike North area somewhat reassuring that Q4 and FY25 grades can shift higher, and we expect throughput will lift as inclement weather abates,” said RBC Capital Markets analyst Alex Barkley.

Transport and logistics group Brambles was among the biggest laggards, down 5.4 per cent after a trading update disappointed investors. Andre Fromyhr at UBS equity research noted that the company may find it harder to reach the top of its forecast sales guidance.

Focus on inflation data

The Australian dollar rebounded 0.5 per cent to US64.50¢, pulling away from a five-month low of US63.6¢ touched last week when the Middle East conflict escalated.

“Iron ore prices have rebounded smartly in April, while copper prices are scaling fresh highs of the year,” said Alvin Tan, head of Asia FX strategy at TD Securities. “These will provide some marginal help to AUD/USD, but the broad US dollar direction remains the chief driver.”

The US dollar has powered up 4.7 per cent this year against a basket of currencies on the view that the US Federal Reserve will keep the policy rate high for months to come in contrast to its peers expected to ease mid-year. In Australia, the market is fully priced for the Reserve Bank to start easing next year only.

Locally attention will swing to key inflation data on Wednesday for clues on the Reserve Bank’s policy settings.

Consumer price index for the March quarter is forecast to show an acceleration to 0.8 per cent, from 0.6 per cent. This would take the annual pace slowing to 3.4 per cent, from 4.1 per cent in the 12 months to the end of December. Even so, this would still be well outside the RBA’s 2 per cent to 3 per cent target.

Stocks on the move

Seven Group Holdings rallied 1.5 per cent after increasing its stake in cement and asphalt group Boral. Boral shares rose 1.4 per cent.

Developer Lifestyle Communities dived nearly 14 per cent after flagging lower home settlements than expected.

Producer Select Harvests cratered 10 per cent after it lowered its crop output guidance due to wet weather and soft conditions for the prices of almonds.

Non-bank lender Plenti leapt nearly 5 per cent as it plans to deliver $200 million in revenue this fiscal year.

Rio Tinto, Eramet and LG Energy are among 30 companies that have submitted proposals to develop lithium extraction technology for a Chilean salt flat in the early stages of exploration, state-run mining body ENAMI says.

Chile is seeking to develop the salt flat known as Salares Altoandinos for lithium mining.

ENAMI has asked bidding companies to detail step-by-step plans to test the brine deposits of the salt flats, outline potential processes to reach battery-grade lithium, and to state whether they had a plan to assess the environmental impact of brine reinjection.

“The objective ... is to become acquainted with state-of-art development of technological processes for lithium extraction that are being developed worldwide,” ENAMI said in a statement.

Rio Tinto, the world’s biggest iron ore producer, is one of the few large mining companies betting on lithium, with a project in Argentina where it expects to start production by year’s-end.

France’s Eramet is also developing a lithium project in Argentina, with production expected to start this year, and last year acquired salt flats in Chile for which it is now pursuing exploration and mining rights.

President Gabriel Boric last year launched a policy aimed at boosting the state’s role in the lithium industry in Chile, which has the world’s largest reserves of the metal.

Boric also announced an ambitious plan to phase out traditionally used evaporation ponds and require the use of direct lithium extraction technology, which is still unproven.

This isn’t Scott Saunders’ first rodeo. Before joining The Star Entertainment Group as chief risk officer, he was the general manager of financial crime and chief compliance officer at Westpac – roles he held as the bank dealt with its AUSTRAC disaster.

But the mess at Star is on another level.

“I’ve never worked for an organisation that has been under the pressure that The Star is under at the moment,” he said on Monday as he appeared as a witness at Adam Bell KC’s second inquiry into Star’s Sydney casino licence.

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Will China’s efforts to compensate for the collapse of its property market bubble by boosting its production of high-end industrial manufactured goods eventually backfire?

In the short term, at least, Beijing has some cause for self-congratulation after the world’s second-largest economy grew by a stronger-than-expected 5.3 per cent in the first quarter, largely due to an increase in industrial production and improved exports.

But China’s latest efforts to bolster economic growth depend on heavy investment in manufacturing – particularly in newer high-tech industries such as electric vehicles and renewable energy equipment – which are already intensifying trade frictions with the United States.

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