ASX 200 down 0.3pc; Austal chair John Rothwell steps down; Ramelius' $87.7m Spartan move; Micron dives

ASX rebounds strongly after big fall. Seven West YouTube accounts hacked. Austal chair John Rothwell hands reins to ex-US Navy official next week. Ramelius' $87.7m Spartan buy-in. US futures dive on Micron fall.

Investors are under pressure to make choices in an inflation-strained economy. Picture: Nikki Short

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Thursday, June 27. The ASX 200 index closed down 0.3 per cent to 7759.60 points with property stocks the worst hit. US markets closed higher on tech gains.

The Aussie dollar is trading around US66.68c at 5.05pm AEST.  RBA official Andrew Hauser's speech tonight may move the dial overnight.

Updates

4:47 pm June 27, 2024

ASX 200 ends down 0.3pc after major rebound

David Rogers

Australia's share market rebounds massively intraday to end only slightly weaker.

In an exceptional move, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.7 per cent to a four-week low of 7754.2 then rebounded 1.4 per cent. It closed down 0.3 per cent at a high of 7759.6.

The rebounded included a rare 0.3 per cent jump in the closing match.

Someone clearly had some major buying, probably due to a change of mandate, but possibly also related to financial year end or an early deployment of cash before the new year. July is typically strong with a 10-year average gain of 3 per cent.

Similar moves this year preceded multi-week rallies.

The index respected Symmetrical Triangle support at 7776. Resistance is at 7830.

The early fall came amid interest rate jitters after blowout CPI data on Thursday.

It also came after weakness in European and US equities, and an afterhours fall in US index futures as Micron Technology fell as much as 11 per cent on disappointing quarterly earnings guidance which pushed Nvidia down 2 per cent afterhours.

Sectors were mixed with property, utilities, industrials and financials underperforming, and tech, health care, discretionary and materials up as buys piled in.

Stockland dived 4.6, GPT lost 5.9 and Mirvac dived 6 per cent as bond yields jumped, while APA Group fell 4.7 and Transurban lost 2.8 per cent for the same reason. Major banks fell 0.6-0.8 per cent with Westpac weakest.

WiseTech soared 2.5, ResMed rose 4.1 per cent and BlueScope jumped 2 per cent.

Focus turns to RBA Deputy Andrew Hauser's speech and Q&A at 8pm AEST.

The big event this week is US PCE inflation data on Friday.

3:52 pm June 27, 2024

ASX 200 rebounds strongly from 4-week low

David Rogers

Australia's share market rebounds strongly after dropping sharply to a four week low in early trading, pointing to further gains in coming weeks.

The S&P/ASX 200 index is down 0.6 per cent at 7734.7 after dropping as much as 1.7 per cent to 7654.2 points. It has bounced 1.1 per cent from the low.

Similar moves on February 14th, March 15th and April 19th preceded multi-week rallies.

This time the index has "respected" support from a Symmetrical Triangle pattern at 7776, suggesting it will soon retest resistance from this pattern at 7830.

But it's unclear which way the triangle pattern will be resolved.

With rate hike speculation ramping and rate cuts almost certainly delayed until well into 2025, there's no guarantee that the recent uptrend will continue.

2:20 pm June 27, 2024

Downer wins big government contract

Joseph Carbone

Downer EDI announces it has won an $860m contract with NSW Homes to deliver maintenance services in three public housing areas.

The contract, which runs for an initial five years but could extend to 10, will see Downer provide these services across a portfolio of public housing in inner Sydney, the Southern Tablelands, the South Coast, Macarthur and the Southern Highlands and Illawarra.

Downer chief executive officer Peter Tompkins said: "Downer has a long history of providing property and facilities management services for government departments, agencies and authorities at the federal, state and municipal level.

"We have successfully partnered with the NSW Land and Housing Corporation, now Homes NSW, for more than 20 years, and are proud to renew our relationship and continue to deliver these vital services for the people of NSW, while also providing sustainable employment opportunities and supporting social enterprises."

DOW shares last traded at $4.62 per share, down 3.3 per cent.

1:20 pm June 27, 2024

Forgettable day for property investors

Valerina Changarathil

Property stocks are among the worst performers on the bourse on Thursday, with the index down more than 3 per cent on concerns about the impact of rising inflation.

At 1.15pm AEST, Goodman Group is down nearly 2 per cent to $34.15. Westfield centres operator Scentre Group is off nearly 3 per cent to $3.09. Stockland Corporation has shed almost 5.6 per cent to $4.16 with Vicinity Centres down 2 per cent to $1.84.

GPT is off 6.5 per cent to $3.99 with Mirvac also declining 6 per cent to $1.81.

Dexus is down 5 per cent to $6.44 after announcing a sale of its stake in Sydney's Martin Place Tower to cut debt in a high interest rates, low valuations environment. It is also trading ex-dividend, which explains some of its fall.

1:04 pm June 27, 2024

Keystone loses Shield Master funds control

Valerina Changarathil

A Federal Court order now prevents Keystone Asset Management, the responsible entity for Shield Master Fund, from selling, transferring, or dealing with the fund's assets, other than to make certain payments that must first be approved by Deloitte.

The court has appointed Deloitte's Jason Tracy and Lucica Palaghia to have full control of Shield's bank accounts to "protect investor funds".

On June 19, financial regulator ASIC obtained orders to freeze the assets of the registered managed fund and ban overseas travel by Keystone director Paul Chiodo, which led to a major mix-up.

Among ASIC’s concerns was that the fund might not have ­adequately disclosed “the conflicts of interest associated with investments in funds related to Keystone or how Keystone managed those conflicts”.

12:48 pm June 27, 2024

Immutep smashing a 'buying opp'

Cameron England

Investors have misread the latest Immutep trial results, smashing the stock price and creating an “obvious buying opportunity” analysts say.

The life sciences company on Thursday released the results of a Phase IIB trial of its compound Efti in combination with Merck’s Keytruda, as a first line head and neck cancer treatment.

Immutep shares were smashed in early trade, falling as low as 23c against the previous close of 43.5c, before recovering to be 20.7 per cent lower at 34.5c by noon.

Analysts at Wilsons Advisory, which as a $1.13 price target on the stock, said “The market has yet again misread Immutep and (this) should represent an obvious buying opportunity’’.

12:31 pm June 27, 2024 Highlight

Seven West YouTube accounts hacked

Jared Lynch

Seven West Media’s Youtube accounts have been hijacked, in what appears to be an attempt by online criminals to fleece Australians of their savings using Elon Musk’s likeness to spruik bogus cryptocurrency investments.

A Seven spokesman said the network was investigating the hack, which hit the company’s accounts on the Google-owned platform on Thursday morning.

“Seven is aware that some of its branded YouTube channels are not appearing as they should. Seven is investigating and working with YouTube to resolve the situation as soon as possible,” the spokesman said.

The hack appears to be affecting all of Seven’s YouTube accounts, including 7 News, and Spotlight. In its place is a live stream using Tesla’s branding and artificial intelligence-generated version of Mr Musk’s voice likeness, saying that people can double their money by investing in cryptocurrency.

“Today's event is a chance for all crypto enthusiasts and users to double their assets. This is a unique opportunity that should not be missed,” the fake Mr Musk says, before urging people to scan a QR code at the bottom of the screen.

“I want each of you to scan the qr code right now and go to the website. Let's make this evening unforgettable and double your wealth together with Tesla. Don't forget that our support is available 24/7 If you have any questions or need clarifications. Our specialists are always in touch and ready to help. So, friends. Don't waste time. Scan the QR code, make deposits and enjoy how your crypto assets double.” YouTube has been contacted for comment.
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12:19 pm June 27, 2024

Austal shares rise on change of guard

Valerina Changarathil

Austal shares are up 1 per cent to $2.47 at 12.15pm AEST in response to a change of guard at the shipbuilding giant being pursued by South Korea's Hanwha Group.

Austal's inaugural chairman and founder John Rothwell will step down on July 1 after 37 years, handing over the reins to ex-US Navy official Richard Spencer.

Mr Rothwell will remain on the board as a non-executive director and is a 9.04 per cent stakeholder in the group.

11:50 am June 27, 2024

ASX 200 rebounds strongly from 4-week low

David Rogers

Australia's share market looks to have found support from bargain hunting after diving to a four-week low on domestic interest rate jitters and negative offshore leads including an afterhours drop in Micron Technology.

The S&P/ASX 200 index is down 1.1 per cent at 7694 after falling as much as 1.7 per cent to 7654.2 points. It has regained an important support line from a Symmetrical Triangle pattern at 7676 and looks set to close well above this line.

The property, industrials, industrials and financials continue to underperform the index and all sectors are down.

Among heavyweight underperformers, CBA falls 1.5 per cent, NAB loses 1.9 per cent, Transurban is down 1.6 per cent, Westpac is down 1.5 per cent, Goodman Group falls 2.2 per cent and Stockland dives 6 per cent.

But about 40 stocks are in the green, with Arcadium Lithium up 3.4 per cent, Inghams up 2.8 per cent, Star Entertainment up 2.7 per cent, ResMed up 2.4 per cent and Rio Tinto up 0.7 per cent.

11:05 am June 27, 2024

ASX 200 'in freefall': IG

David Rogers

IG market analyst Tony Sycamore says the ASX 200 is "in freefall" after the index fell as much as 1.7 per cent to a four-week low of 7654.2 early Thursday.

The ASX 200 is down 1.3 per cent at 7679.4 after bouncing off the intraday low.

IG's Sycamore says the index needs to stay above a chart support line drawn from the April low, currently near 7676, on a daily close basis, to avoid a potential drop to its 200-day moving average at 7457.

The above mentioned line is the support line from a "Symmetrical Triangle" pattern.

Technical analysis would give a target near 7250 on a sustained downside break.

However, at this point there's still hope of a close above the support line.

Important swing factors include RBA Deputy Governor Hauser's speech at 8pm AEST on Thursday and US PCE inflation data on Friday.