The Last Trade || ASX Ends Flat; Why Consumer Staple Stocks Buck Trend? - YouTube

Hi there I am Holly and you are watching  kalkine tv live from Sydney. This is the  

last show of the day - The Last Trade. Lets get  started with today’s market close commentary.

Australian shares were trading  lower on Monday towards the close,  

dented by banking and technology  stocks, while tighter lockdown  

curbs also weighed on market  sentiment. Lockdowns have  

been imposed in Sydney and Darwin, and new  restrictions are in place for Queensland after  

another 18 new locally acquired cases  were recorded in New South Wales. The  

coronavirus-led restrictions pose a new threat  to the country’s reviving economic growth.  

The S&P/ASX200 is up just 0.20 points  today to 7308.20 before the closing. Early  

today, the index opened on a weak note,  undermining firms cues from US markets,  

and declined as much 0.5 per cent to  touch intraday low of 7,273.70. On  

Friday, Wall Street ended mostly higher as  weaker-than-expected inflation data and news that  

US President Joe Biden has signed a bipartisan  infrastructure deal boosted market sentiment. 

The equity market witnessed mixed trading  today, with six of 11 sectors closing lower. The  

Information technology sector was the worst  performer, falling 3 per cent. Among others,  

A-REIT, industrials, financial,  telecom and energy also settled in red. 

Bucking the trend, consumer staple emerged  as winner with 1.6 per cent gain. Health care,  

consumer discretionary, materials and  utilities also closed higher with decent gains. 

The COVID-19 restrictions in the states and  cities have boosted demand for “stay-at-home”  

stocks, with online retailers emerging as  top gainers. Temple & Webster Group Ltd.  

shares rose over 10 per cent, while  Kogan.com Ltd. gained 6.5 per cent.  

Harvey Norman Holdings and JB  HI-FI are also trading higher. 

Panic buying at supermarkets also  propelled rally in retail stocks.  

Woolworths Group, Coles Group Limited  and Metcash were among top gainers.  

Meanwhile, travel and tourism stocks were  trading in red as Sydney increased list  

of exposure sites. The state has imposed  lockdown to stop the spread of the highly  

infectious Delta coronavirus variant. Travel  stocks Qantas Airways, travel agency Flight  

Centre Travel Group Ltd and Webjet Limited  were reeling under selling pressure. 

In the financial space, out of four  big four lenders, two ended in green,  

while remained two closed lower. Westpac Banking  Corp and Commonwealth Bank settled in green,  

while Australia and New Zealand Banking Group  and National Australia Bank ended lower. 

Moving on to the Top gainers and losers,

Redbubble, a global online marketplace  for print-on-demand products, was the  

top percentage gainer on the  ASX, rising 8.5 per cent. Online  

retailers Kogan.com Ltd. , supermarket giant  Woolworths Group were among other top gainers. 

On the other hand, buy-now-pay-later  firm Afterpay was the top laggard with 7 per cent  

loss. Australian gold producer Gold Road  Resources , payment solution firm ZIP  

Co , Webjet Limited were among notable losers. 

And now before we look at the Shares that are  in News today, its time for a short break.

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Hi welcome back, I am Holly and you are  watching kalkine tv live from Sydney.  

This is The Last Trade.

Lets have a look at the ASX listed  companies that are in the news today.

Shares of educational courses  provider RedHill Education Limited rose as  

much as 18 per cent to 91 Australian cents on  signing pact with iCollege. The company  

has entered an indicative and non-binding term  sheet with iCollege Limited to provide exclusive  

due diligence for proposed off-market takeover  offer by ICT. The Company stated term sheet  

will be contemplating an increased offer price to  9.5 shares in ICT for every 1 share in RedHill. 

Moving on. The shares of Medical devices  maker Atomo Diagnostics Limited soared  

59 per cent to 22 cents, on receiving  a nod for its COVID-19 test kit. The  

firm shared that the COVID-19 antibody  test, developed with S.Korea's Access Bio  

Inc, has got emergency use authorisation from the  US FDA. Atomo announced that both companies are  

discussing commercial arrangements  for the rapid test's launch. 

Next up - Shares of online outsourcing marketplace  Freelancer Limited rose as much as 8.9 per cent to  

AU$1.2 after the company stated it has  secured a NASA contract to improve the  

speed of the US Bureau of Reclamation's  sedimentation and river hydraulics project. 

And Pharma company Probiotec Limited  gained as much as 6.6 per  

cent to AU$2.26 after the company informed  the exchange that it has agreed terms to buy  

Sydney-based H&H Packaging (H&H)  for total of up to AU$4 million. 

Meanwhile, Joyce Corporation Ltd jumped 7.3  per cent to AU$2.79 on robust outlook. The home  

furnishing firm stated that trading environment  in the second half of fiscal 2021 has been  

stronger than last year, backed by robust demand. 

And things aren’t look so good for Gold  Road Resources, whose shares fell as much as  

8.8 per cent to AU$1.29 after quarterly forecast  disappointed investors. The gold explorer has  

forecasted lower-than-expected gold production for  the June quarter at its Gruyere gold mine due to  

disruptions. The company stated disruptions at its  Gruyere gold mine operations included a torn mill  

feed conveyor belt which resulted in temporary  repairs and reduced processing rates. 

But on the up-and-up, shares of motor vehicle  seller Autosports Group Limited climbed as  

much as 6.6 per cent to AU$2.6 on positive FY21  outlook. The company stated it expects its FY21  

total revenue to be between AU$1.92 billion and  AU$1.96 billion, an increase of up to 15 per cent  

on FY20. Besides, the company has also entered  an agreement to acquire 80 per cent interest in  

John Newell Mazda, a new- and used-vehicle  dealer in Alexandria for AU$16 million. 

Another skyrocketing stocks – shares of  Yojee Limited  rose as much as 29.629  

per cent to 17.5 cents, marking their biggest  intraday percentage gain since 3 September  

2020. The cloud services provider shared that it  has signed an agreement to expand its presence to  

18 Asia-Pacific countries. The Company has said  that agreement is for a minimum of three years. 

Moving on. Shares of Infinity Lithium Corporation  Limited rallied as much as 16 per cent to 95 cents  

after the company signed a deal  with South Korean battery producer  

LG Energy Solution. The company will supply  battery-grade lithium hydroxide to LG Energy  

Solution for at least 5 years from  its Spain-based San Jose project. 

And Wholesale grocery distributor Metcash Limited  climbed as much as 3.6 per cent to hit two-month  

high of AU$3.79. The company has raised its  dividend and announced a share buyback and  

strong full-year results. The company stated it  will pay a final dividend of 9.5 cents per share,  

taking its total for the year to 17.5 cents,  which is a 40 per cent increase from a year ago. 

And lastly. Tesoro Resources Limited  reported assay results from extensional  

and infill resource definition drilling  at the Ternera Gold Deposit. Boosted  

by the development, the share price of the company  rose 3.5 per cent to 150 cents. Not half bad.

And now before cross continents to the Asian  markets, its time for a short break.

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Hi welcome back to the last trade, I am Holly  and you are watching kalkine tv live from Sydney.

On to Asian Markets now, which  stayed under selling stress.

The region’s stocks continued  to witness selling pressure  

after making a weak start today,  undermining firm cues from Wall Street.

Japan's Nikkei was down by 0.15 per  cent and China’s Shanghai Composite  

dropped 0.02 per cent, paring early  losses. Seoul's KOSPI was trading  

lower by 0.1 per cent, while Taiwan’s  Weighted Index rose 0.35 per cent.

New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX  50 was down 0.2 per cent, while  

India’s BSE Sensex traded lower by 0.27 per cent.

On Friday, Wall Street ended mostly higher  as weaker-than-expected inflation data and  

news that US President Joe Biden has signed a  bipartisan infrastructure deal boosted market  

sentiment.. Blue-chip S&P 500 rose 0.34 per  cent, the Dow Jones surged 0.71 per cent, and  

tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite  finished with marginal losses.

Well, now move on to crypto space, where Bitcoin,  Ether and other coins are trading in green.

The cryptocurrencies continued to trade higher  during Asian trading hours on Monday. However,  

concerns about regulatory crackdowns  and environmental issues limited  

market gains. In a fresh development,  Britain's Financial Conduct Authority  

has banned Binance, a popular cryptocurrency  exchange platform, from offering certain  

services in the country without a prior  written consent letter of the authority.  

The UK’s financial watchdog has alleged  that the cryptocurrency exchange  

lacked authorisation. Binance allows investors  to buy and trade cryptocurrencies online.

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market  value, was trading 4.8 per cent higher at  

US$34,522 at the time of reporting. The price  of Bitcoin has struggled near the US$35,000  

level as sellers react to extreme  overbought conditions since March.  

The concerns over tighter monetary policy  in the US also dented demand for cryptos.

Ether, the second-largest crypto,  gained 5.4 per cent to US$1,975,  

while the meme currency, Dogecoin,  rose 3.5 per cent to 25.57 US cents.

But before we wrap up, an update coming  to us from one very locked-down state.

You might’ve thought we learned our lesson from  the last wave, but apparently not – panic buying  

is back with a vengeance as stores are selling out  of the essentials, with the primary victim being  

toilet paper as usual. This has prompted Woolies  in NSW to restrict to the purchase of the product,  

introducing a two-pack per shop cap on  toilet paper. As more supplies gradually  

arrive from their distribution centres,  panic-stricken shoppers will have to fight  

their primordial urges to stockpile, that is  if they don’t want to see more empty shelves.

Well, that’s all for now in the Last Trade. With  our existing operations in Australia, New Zealand,  

UK and Canada, Kalkine media has launched its  operations in US markets. Everyday in our first  

show - the global market updates - you can get  latest and important news of the US and UK markets  

from overnight happening.. So On that note, I will  see you tomorrow at 10.30 am live from Sydney.