Trading Day: live markets coverage; Stocks lift as dip buyers wake; plus analysis and opinion
Local shares book gains despite soft commodity markets as bargain hunters seize on global tailwinds.
Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Friday, November 17.
Samantha Woodhill 4.34pm: Bargain hunters spur ASX gains
The local sharemarket ended the session slightly higher following strong leads from Wall Street, despite soft commodity and oil prices.
The benchmark S & P/ASX200 was up 13.789 points, or 0.23 per cent, at 5957.3 points. The broader All Ordinaries index was up 14.761 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 6038.3 points at the close.
CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner said the market started to see bargain hunting yesterday and that continued into Friday’s session.
“Bargain hunters were given a bit of extra reason for confidence with a good lead from US confidence and assisted by the fact that China’s central bank added liquidity to their financial markets yesterday which is taken to be a guide to the fact that they don’t want their overall growth rate to fall too much. That was encouraging to markets,” he said.
“We still saw relatively softer commodity and oil prices overnight so that any rally here has been held back to some extent by the mining stocks not participating in it.”
In financials, NAB ticked up 0.37 per cent to $30.08. Commonwealth Bank made 0.12 per cent to $80.92. Westpac lifted 0.28 per cent to $31.85 and ANZ grew 0.58 per cent to $29.46
More to come.
4.11pm: SOHN: Lanyon gives media spin-off legs
A spin-off succession has revealed ANZ business’ latent misgiving of throwing the ‘baby out with the bathwater’, according to Lanyon Asset Management’s David Prescott, who singles out traditional media as a serial offender.
Kiwi integrated media outfit NZ ME — spun out of APN News & Media last year — is Lanyon’s poster child of undervalued offspring. Tangled in a proposed merger with Fairfax currently under appeal in the NZ High Court, Mr. Prescott says the market remains overly focused on the unlikely tie up and underappreciates its growth prospects in simple co-operation with Fairfax.
In addition, Mr. Prescott says NZ Me has “unrivalled” reach in its core NZ audience and that recent falls in advertising revenue are set to moderate.
Lanyon currently values NZ ME at $1.15 a share — 6.5 times cash flow — and should the High Court fail to approve the merger between the two, sees valuation over $1.40 should it realise co-operative opportunities with Fairfax.
NZM last 82 cents
3.47pm: SOHN: Auscap bullish Macquarie
Coming within an inch of the $100 club earlier this month, Macquarie’s recent share price performance may have hammered the pegs down in the caution camp, but Auscap Asset Management’s Tim Carleton remains bullish.
Macquarie’s asset management credentials are too often overlooked by a market that gives disproportionate weighting to its standing as a bank, according to Mr. Carleton, while strong return on capital, high cash flow, a senisibily geared balance sheet with capacity and positive performance based culture firms its investment appeal.
Auscap also sees Macquarie’s residual business valued too cheaply after aligning MQG’s asset management arm to peer multiples and delivering a $18bn valuation (total market cap $33.7bn), while further upside lurks for the core arm in the form of a global infrastructure boom together with an uptick in corporate and trading activity, both of which Mr. Carleton sees as likely outcomes.
“If you’re looking for a stock you can hold for years MQG represents a compelling total return opportunity,” says Mr. Carleton.
MQG last up 1.3pc at $99.21
3.16pm: SOHN: Dymon Asia Capital long USD/Yen
Dymon Asia Capital’s Danny Yong is long USD/Yen and sees no moderation in the rate money is flowing out of Japan, the BOJ most recently on hold at minus 0.5pc.
Japan is ‘testing the limits of the fiat money system’, according to Mr. Yong, expanding its balance sheet to the equivalent of $6trn from $1.7trn over the last four years, while he sees technology’s deflationary pressure as giving central banks around the world an avenue by which to substantiate the current rate at which they print money.
Meanwhile, Mr. Yong expects Japan’s population to fall and fails to see how it will stem the flow of $1trn worth of assets leaving the country each year.
Long USD/Yen is Asia Capital’s recommendation, specifically a USD/Yen one-touch option expiring in 1 year with barrier of 125 yen.
The positing also helps hedge against near certain US interest rate hike and any potential risk from North Korea, Mr. Yong adds.
Glenda Korporaal 3.11pm: Keating slams coalition’s foreign policy
Former Prime Minister Paul Keating has slammed the Turnbull Government’s foreign policy as “barren” with no new ideas except to fall in line with US policy, while China was well on the way to becoming the world’s largest economy.
Speaking at the second annual Sohn Hearts & Minds conference at the Opera House today, Mr Keating slammed the Turnbull Government’s recent moves to join in with the US, Japan and India to try to “contain China”.
“Give me a break,” he said of that idea.
He said the Turnbull Government had been “freaked out by the security agencies” into adopting a very pro-US foreign policy in Asia.
But he said a newly powerful China was not going to be part of the US view that it would remain a trading country while the US was the superior naval power in the Pacific.
More to come.
Andrew White 2.52pm: SOHN: Prime Minister arrives
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull makes a special appearance at Sohn, welcomed to stage with the theme of the Same Sex Marriage debate, Love is in the air.
Andrew White 2.47pm: SOHN: Regal Funds goes long and short
Regal Funds Management completed a rare double with a recommendation for both a long and a short.
Philip King cited electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi (JBH) as a short, predicting years of pain ahead as the US online retailer Amazon enters the Australian market.
Up to 60 per cent of the retailers profit could disappear in the next five years, Mr King said, as Amazon aims to match price on branded goods and beat them on unbranded.
“The issue for JB Hi-Fi is that 20pc of sales come from accessories but 40pc of margins and they will be decimated,” Mr King said.
“Amazon has never been stronger. It will be a trusted brand from the day it arrives in Australia.
He noted that both sales growth and store openings have also been declining.
“JB Hi-Fi won’t go broke but there are years of pain ahead.”
King’s long pick was voice recognition company Appen (APX), which was spun out of the University of New South Wales five years ago.
King said the company has beaten guidance every eyear since then and has strong following among major tech companies.
Andrew White 2.22pm: China’s ambition to usurp US: Keating
Former Prime Minister Paul Keating warns Australia says China is hellbent on growing its economy to $US18trn by 2021, putting it on a par with the US in time for the anniversary of the foundation of the Communist Party.
The China Development Bank chairman told the Sohn conference that once that target was reached the party was likely to dial back growth, but continue to pull away fro m the US and be twice its size by the 2030s.
“They are going to head the US off at the pass at $18trn. That is what they are going to do.”
He said the US big strategic bet of transferring capital and technology to China in hope of creating a liberal democracy was likely to fail in the long term, posing challenges for the established order of globalism.
“The US has transferred its technology, a lot of its capital, in the hope of turning up a liberal democracy in China. And the chances are that it won’t happen.
“The big policy punt has been a big failure for them They have got nothing in return.”
Sarah-Jane Tasker 2.03pm: Tatts warns on merger vote uncertainty
Tatts Group has advised its shareholders that the scheme meeting to vote on the deal with Tabcorp could again be pushed back despite the Australian Competition Tribunal approving the deal today.
The company told its shareholders that the tribunal would publish its reasons for its approval decision on November 22, which is just before the November 30 shareholder meeting to vote on the deal.
Tatts said the company, along with its advisers, would review the reasons to determine if shareholders need to be informed of any further detail before they vote on the tie-up with Tabcorp.
The company said while the review of the tribunal’s decision could impact the timing of the scheme meeting, it could not determine if that would be the case at this time.
Tabcorp said in a statement that today’s approval by the tribunal was a significant step towards finalising the transaction.
TTS last $4.29 in trading halt
Elizabeth Redman 1.32pm: First-home buyers’ southern orientation
As Sydney housing prices look out of reach for many prospective first time buyers, interest is shifting south.
Interest in Hobart properties is soaring, with South Hobart topping a list of the most in demand suburbs over the past six months on realestate.com.au.
The median price in South Hobart is $541,000 for houses and $351,000 for units, according to the listings website.
A three bedroom, two bathroom townhouse with outdoor entertainment deck and two balconies in the suburb has recently been listed for $395,000+, while another three bedroom townhouse with three car spaces and located close to cafes is listed for $495,000.
Seven Tasmanian suburbs featured in the top 10 list, including Mount Stuart at number three, Battery Point at five, followed by Bellerive, Mornington, Hobart and North Hobart — more to come
1.03pm: RBA eyes 2pc by FY end: Goldman
Goldman Sachs is tipping the official cash rate in Australia could hit 2 per cent by end-June 2018 (from 1.5 per cent currently), although the brokerage has pushed back its forecast for the start of a tightening cycle by 3 months to May 2018.
Goldman Sachs acknowledges its forecast path for the cash rate “is at the hawkish end of consensus expectations” in predicting a 50 basis points rise through the financial year, even though it implies accommodative policy settings all the way through to 2021 when it expects the RBA to return the cash rate to the central “neutral” estimate of 3.5 per cent.
Goldman points out “positive inflection points are evident across Australia’s macroeconomic data” and “in many respects the growth outlook has not been this upbeat for around five years”.
David Swan 12.41pm: ABC caught in massive data leak
The ABC has leaked a trove of sensitive data, including usernames and passwords due, to a vulnerability in its cloud services, a security firm says.
The Kromtech Security Center reported overnight ABC Commercial — the broadcaster’s retail, sales and publishing arm — accidentally leaked sensitive data including information regarding production services and stock files.
Researchers found several thousand ABC emails, logins and passwords, including what Kromtech said was for “users who are well known members of the media”, as well as 1,800 daily database backups and requests for licensed content, as sent by TV and media producers from all over the world to use ABC’s content and pay royalties.
12.05pm: Stocks ebb in lunchtime trade
The local share market shrinks strong opening gains as elation from the progression of US tax cuts and fresh China growth hope comes off the boil.
The S & P/ASX 200 index last traded 0.3 per cent higher on 5957.7
Caution around big miners BHP and Rio Tinto grows as both slide to new intraday lows in a stark reversal from the day’s highs at the open.
Commodity markets remain mixed in Asia trade.
“[Wall Street first] needs to take out the previous highs to say it’s onwards and upwards from here,” says CMC chief markets analyst Ric Spooner.
SWING STOCKS
+ St Barbra (3.3pc), Speedcast (3.1pc), Seek (2.8pc), NewsCorp (2.7pc), Webjet (2.5pc), a2 Milk (2.4pc)
— Costa Group (2.7pc), Fairfax Media (2.4pc), Bega Cheese (2.3pc), APN Outdoor (1.3pc)
Ben Butler 11.53am: Westpac’s ‘Rat’ denies wrongdoing
Former Westpac star trader Col “The Rat” Roden has angrily denied trying to fix the benchmark bank bill swap rate (BBSW), describing allegations he stockpiled financial “ammo” to do so as “ludicrous”.
Mr Roden was this morning enduring a second day of cross-examination in the Federal Cout at the hands of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s counsel, Phillip Crutchfield, QC.
The court is hearing allegations by the corporate regulator that the bank tried to rig the BBSW on 16 occasions between 2010 and 2010.
Mr Crutchfield asked Mr Roden whether he bought bank bills as “ammo” before April 6, 2010, and then traded to move the rate.
“I disagree with both of your propositions,” Mr Roden said.
“Your first proposition is ludicrous and the answer to your second proposition is no.”
“I don’t know where you’re getting this from.”
He said Westpac’s large position on the morning was explained by the fact it was Easter, which caused lumpiness in the BBSW market — more to come.
WBC last up 0.3 per cent on $31.85
11.15am: ACCC notes Tabcorp merger progress
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has acknowledged the Australian Competition Tribunal’s approval the proposed merger between gaming heavyweights Tabcorp and Tatts after the former pulled a similar application from the Commision earlier this year.
“When the ACCC sought review of the Tribunal’s earlier determination, our purpose was to clarify the law. We achieved that objective, with the Full Court making it clear that the Tribunal was required to take in to account all competitive detriment that is likely to result from the proposed merger,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.
“The Tribunal has now reconsidered the evidence, in relation to both anti-competitive detriment and public benefit, and concluded that the merger is likely to result in such benefit that it should be permitted to proceed.”
Andrew White 11.01am: SOHN: Microsoft alumni questions coal
Inventor and former Microsoft executive Ramez Naam, tells the theatre at the Opera House that Australia needs to diversify away from coal if it wants to survive and thrive.
In a key note address to the Sohn Hearts and Minds Conference, Mr Naam said the proposed Carmichaal coal mine in the Galilee Basin planned by Indian company Adani did not make sense in a world where coal consumption had peaked in 2017 and was now in decline.
“The only way that this mine makes sense is if the you are betting on coal consumption to increase,” Mr Naam told a packed theatre of Australian investors, bankers and fund managers.
“The mine and the port doesn’t seem like a sound economic bet to me.”
The fall in the cost of solar and wind generation and battery storage meant that coal production and generation was about to face “almost a Kodak moment” of going out of business.
Auctions to supply electricity were seeing almost daily records broken as the cost of generation from wind and solar continued to fall.
Earlier this year, oil and gas rich Abu Dhabi contracted for supply rom a 1.3 gigawatt solar farm at 2.42c per kilowatt — the cheapest contract ever signed. Four bidders lodged bids under 3c a kilowatt.
Sarah-Jane Tasker 10.35am: ACT approves Tabcorp-Tatts merger
Tabcorp (TAH) has been cleared to push ahead with its takeover of Tatts Group (TTS) after the competition tribunal confirmed its support of the deal.
The Australian Competition Tribunal had already previously approved the deal to create an $11 billion gaming giant but its original decision was appealed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
The re-hearing by the tribunal was ordered after the Full Federal Court determined that the earlier decision by the tribunal to wave the deal through with minimal conditions was void because of a legal error.
Justice John Middleton said today his new approval added only one condition from his previous decision to back the deal, which is that Tabcorp must divest its Odyssey Gaming business in Queensland, a move Tabcorp had already agreed to.
More to come.
10.28am: Stocks surge as global tailwinds unite
The ASX leaps higher at the open as tailwinds for the world’s two largest economies combine to haul local shares back toward the 6000 mark lapsed earlier this week.
The S & P/ASX200 index last trade 0.5 per cent higher at 5975.
Corporate stimulus hopes around the world are high as US tax cut legislation took strides through the Lower House overnight, while concerns of China overreaching in its credit crunchdown have eased, according to CMC Markets’ chief market analyst Ric Spooner.
“Yesterday’s liquidity injection by China’s Central Bank provided another justification for trader optimism,” says Mr. Spooner.
“It is being taken as a signal that Chinese authorities still have a relatively modest pain threshold when it comes to the trade-off between credit reform and economic growth.”
“Markets are confident that China will, continue to play its part in the synchronised world growth that is helping to support stock market valuations at present.”
BHP (-0.1pc) and Wesfarmers (-0.8pc) remain the only ASX top 10 stocks in the red.
Bridget Carter 10.22am: Oneview taps Macquarie for raising
Macquarie Capital has launched an equity raising for the healthcare software provider Oneview (ONE) Healthcare to raise $30 million.
The raise is via a 1 for 4.35 underwritten pro rata accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offer which will secure up to $25m and an institutional placement of 2.5 million securities to raise $5 million.
Shares are being sold at $2 each, representing a 9.09 per cent discount to the stock’s last closing price on Tuesday of $2.20.
The proceeds from the equity raising are being used to boost the company’s balance sheet position and to invest in technology and products.
More to come from DataRoom
10.03am: The Trading Day ahead
Join the conversation with our Trading Day experts for breaking news and analysis in financial markets here and on Sky News Business (Ch: 602)
NOW: Live cross to the Sohn Heats and Minds Conference
10.05am: Evan Lucas — The Lucas Review
10.30pm: Andrew Tyrell — Shaw and Partners
10.45pm: Live cross — NAB Asset Management
11.00am: Ben Le Brun — OptionsXpress
(All times in AEST)
9.48am: SOHN: Hendricks hot on innovative Reliance
Macquarie High Conviction Fund’s Blake Hendricks sees 50pc upside in Reliance Worldwide amid a pervasive underappreciation of a plumbing industry with an image problem.
As its core workforce ages, the industry’s mandate is to innovate and this is where Reliance thrives, says Mr. Hendricks.
Reliance’s prioritory plumbing connection system Shark Bite, for example, cuts the time of plumbing a 3 bedroom house from 6.5 hours to 1.5 hours, he says.
Shark Bite the leading system in the market, Mr. Hendricks says Reliance is well-placed to seal a contract with heavyweight Lowes, and hold onto its contract with competitor Home Depot despite friction caused by dealings with its rival.
“The opportunity to invest is now,” says Mr Hendricks, “I believe the best opportunities when markets price possibilities rather than probabilities.”
Andrew White 9.29am: SOHN: Cooper pitches his top pick
Andrew White reports live from the Sohn Hearts and Minds Conference
Welcome to the Sohn Hearts and Minds Conference for 2017. This morning plays host to a kind of pitchiest for fund managers, some of the biggest names in the industry putting up their best ideas in the name of charity.
Following his pick last year that earnt him second prize on an 85 per cent return, Peter Cooper, the founder of Cooper Investors, takes the stage first.
This year he has chosen TE Connectivity, a US maker of sensors and connectors used to control vehicles and aircraft.
Cooper reckons it's a high-quality turnaround story with the potential to double its shareprice from $US93 to $180.
The company has revenue of $US13bn but margins of 16 per cent versus industry peer Amphenol at 20 per cent. That is a $700m profit opportunity.
TE has exposure to the expected growth in car electrification, and the Asian middle class. The numbers behind that are that a standard combustion engine car has about $60 of electronics on board, versus a basis electric car at $120 and up to $500 for a high end Tesla.
It does business in China where the middle class is on its way in number to surpassing that in the US, but has a far lower penetration of cars — 8 per hundred people versus 8 in 10 for the US.
9.06am: Ellice-Flint link to Santos bid
Bridget Carter and Scott Murdoch write:
Is John Ellice-Flint behind the latest $9.48 billion takeover bid for his old company, Santos?
Speculation abounds that the Blue Energy executive chairman, who last year was part of a consortium that lobbed a takeover effort for the listed oil and gas business he used to run, is part of a new group of supporters eager to buy the Adelaide-based company — read more from DataRoom
John Durie 9.01am: Bank customers’ data next battle
Earlier this week former ANZ boss Mike Smith argued that banks’ better use of their data would help them increase earnings, and yesterday ACCC boss Rod Sims warned that data-driven innovation could lead to increased collusion.
Given the market power of banks, the two statements, while delivered on separate stages on different days, are not unconnected.
8.52am: Tabcorp, Tatts in halt ahead of merger update
Updated:
Tabcorp (TAH) and Tatts Group (TTS) have entered into a trading halt pending a further announcement to the market regarding the Australian Competition Tribunal’s (ACCC) decision on a proposed merger between the two gaming companies.
8.36am: Stocks set to soar at open
The Australian sharemarket looks set to open with a surge following solid Wall Street’s gains fuelled by better-than-expected company earnings and optimism that President Donald Trump’s tax cuts would proceed.
At 7.00am (AEDT), the share price futures index was up 43 points, or 0.72 per cent, at 5,994.
In the US, risk appetite returned amid optimism that the Republican’s tax reform package would pass the US House of Representatives on Friday, and on solid company earnings results.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 23,457.32, up 0.8 per cent, while the broadbased S & P 500 gained 0.8 per cent to 2,585.67.
Locally, in economic news on Friday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics is due to release October new motor vehicle sales figures.
In equities news, Lendlease and Kogan have their annual general meetings. The Australian market on Thursday edged higher as takeover speculation fuelled a big gain for gas giant Santos and other sectors recovered from early weakness. The benchmark S & P/ASX200 index rose 9.3 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 5,943.5 points.
The broader All Ordinaries index gained 11.2 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 6,023.5 points Meanwhile, the Australian dollar has slipped against its US counterpart with the US dollar index lifting 0.1 per cent as risk appetite returns to markets.
AAP
8.35am: Wall Street surge heralds tax strides
Wall Street cheered the House of Representative’s passage of the Republican tax cut plan Thursday, pushing US stocks higher and lifting the Nasdaq to a fresh record.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.3 per cent to end the session at 6,792.45, eclipsing its November 8 record by about three points.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 23,457.32, up 0.8 per cent, while the broadbased S & P 500 gained 0.8 per cent to 2,585.67.
AAP
Matt Chambers 8.30am: Mackenzie tells Canberra: back off
BHP Billiton chief Andrew Mackenzie has blasted state and federal politicians and lobby groups that are advocating strict renewable or coal energy solutions, calling for them to “back off” and let a market-based solution drive cheaper, reliable energy for the nation.
The mining boss voiced his frustration to shareholders yesterday, 11 months after the company lost power at its Olympic Dam mine for a week after South Australian blackouts and two months after BHP forced the resignation of Minerals Council of Australian chief executive Brendan Pearson over the lobby group’s advocacy of coal-fired power over a Clean Energy Target — read more
BHP last $27.27
7.51am: Wall Street books sharp rebound
Soaring Wal-Mart shares and the passage of a tax-overhaul bill in the House helped send US stock indexes toward their biggest gains since September.
Thursday’s moves reflected what has powered much of this year’s rally: improving profits and sales at American companies, plus the prospect that corporate tax cuts could boost earnings even further.
After the S & P 500 posted its steepest-one day decline since September a day earlier, investors snapped up shares across several sectors of the stock market Thursday. Some of the biggest gainers: groups that have struggled this year, such as consumer-staples companies, and technology stocks, major contributors to this year’s gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 196 points, or 0.8 per cents, to 23,467 in recent trading, while the S & P 500 rose 0.9 per cent. Both indexes were on pace for their biggest one-day percentage gains since Sept. 11.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.4 per cent, on track to close at a record and set for its largest daily rise since late October.
Dow Jones
7.29am: Rising US oil stocks drag on prices
Oil prices extended their losing streak Thursday as rising US petroleum inventories and wavering demand forecasts continued to weigh on the market.
US crude futures fell for a third straight day, settling down 19 cents, or 0.34 per cent, at $55.14 a barrel. Brent, the global benchmark, slid for a fifth consecutive session, falling 51 cents, or 0.82 per cent, to $61.36 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
“I think we’ve exhausted a technical run in the market,” said Stephen Schork, editor of the energy trading newsletter the Schork Report. “We had a heck of a ride.”
Dow Jones
7.26am: Dollar dips against greenback
The Australian dollar is a little lower against its US counterpart as risk appetite turns a little more positive thanks to solid earnings and revived optimism over US President Donald Trump’s promised tax cuts. At 6.35am (AEDT), the Australian dollar was worth US75.90 US cents, down from US75.96 US cents on Thursday.
The Aussie dollar is also lower against the yen but a little higher against the euro.
AAP
7.15am: Siemens faces union showdown over job cuts
Industrial conglomerate Siemens on Thursday announced thousands of job cuts worldwide, most of them in its fossil fuels division, with unions and politicians in its home country Germany particularly outspoken against the plans.
A total of 6,900 workers are set to lose their jobs, around half of them in Germany, where Siemens also plans to close sites in the country’s economically weaker east.
“The power industry is experiencing disruption of unprecedented scope and speed,” board member Lisa Davis said in a statement, saying lay-offs were necessary to keep Siemens competitive.
The Munich-based group says global demand for the large turbines its power and gas unit produces “has fallen drastically” as renewable energy has become more popular.
This has sapped profitability as there is not enough demand to keep its factories turning.
In Germany, that division alone will shed 2,600 jobs and close sites in Goerlitz and Leipzig, both in the former communist east.
“This is sad news ... a sudden bolt from the blue for Leipzigers,” said Stanislaw Tillich, premier of Saxony state.
Some 1,100 jobs are set to go in the rest of Europe, while the US will see 1,800 lay-offs.
German employee representatives have vowed to resist job cuts, as they would follow on the heels of flourishing annual results for the sprawling group.
AFP
7.11am: US tax revamp bill passes House
The House of Representatives passed a bill that would usher in the most far-reaching overhaul of the US tax system in 31 years, backing a plan that would lower the corporate tax rate to its lowest point since 1939 and cut individual taxes for most households in 2018.
The bill would repeal the alternative minimum tax, increase the child tax credit, abolish the estate tax by 2025 and transform the US system for taxing multinational corporations. The plan would raise taxes on some people by removing personal exemptions and deductions for state and local income taxes, medical expenses and student loan interest. On the whole, the bill would reduce federal taxes by $US1.4 trillion over the next decade.
The 227-205 House vote was a victory for Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) and President Donald Trump, who rallied with Republicans in the Capitol before the vote. Republicans want to finish the new tax law before the year ends, and they are banking on it as an economic boon and the key to their political futures.
Thirteen Republicans voted against the bill; no Democrats voted for it.
Dow Jones — Read more
6.59am: European markets bounce back
The UK’s top share index steadied on Thursday as a handful of earnings updates were in focus and GKN plunged on uncertainty following the ditching of its CEO designate. The FTSE 100 closed down 0.19 per cent at 7,386.94.
European shares enjoyed a recovery on Thursday, snapping their longest losing streak since October 2016 as the cyclic sectors which had driven a market-wide sell-off made a comeback.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index climbed 0.4 per cent, with the cyclicals-heavy DAX closed up 0.55 per cent at 13,047.22.
AAP
6.45am: Tesla to enter trucking business
After more than a decade of making cars and SUVs — and, more recently, solar panels — Tesla Inc. wants to electrify a new type of vehicle: big trucks.
The company will unveil its new electric semitractor-trailer Thursday night near its design centre in Hawthorne, California.
The move fits with Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s stated goal for the company of accelerating the shift to sustainable transportation. Trucks account for nearly a quarter of transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., according to government statistics. Tesla also could equip its trucks with the semi-autonomous driving features found in its cars, like automatic braking and lane changing.
AP
May rate cut ‘locked in’; ASX plots strong finish before Anzac Day break
Westpac's Luci Ellis predicts rate cuts in May, Aug, Nov. Miners lead local gains. Mixed Asian markets reflect Trump trade uncertainty amid softening stance on China.
ASX 200 mostly erases April tariff losses; gold miners dive
Trade deals optimism rises as US President Donald Trump softens stance on China, Fed chair Jerome Powell. Paladin top gainer. Safe-haven gold pulls back from its record high.