The Match Out: ASX slumps further, Ardent (ALG) impresses, and Strandline (STA) disappoints

The ASX saw the best of it early on Monday morning, initially rallying ~0.6%, looking to recover some of last week’s losses. Banks, miners and energy sectors supported the index before traders faded the strength throughout the rest of the session. The ASX200 settled at its lowest close since late March with the only shining light being the Tech sector.

• The ASX 200 finished down -38pts/ -0.54% at 7004
• The Tech sector (+0.20%) was the best on ground today, and the only sector in the black.
• Staples (-1.00%) was the weakest sector, followed by Industrials (-0.94%) & Healthcare (-0.74%)
• China CPI came in at 0% for June, well below expectations of +0.2% - more signs of cracking in the world’s second-largest economy.
• Ardent Leisure (ASX: ALG) +13.48% said theme park revenue for FY23 would be ~25% higher than FY19 on the back of a strong Easter period.
• Strandline (ASX: STA) -5.45% struggled despite the seventh shipment of mineral sands departing. More on that below.
• GQG Partners (ASX: GQG) +3.07% added a further $US6.2b in FUM, taking the total to $US104b despite what they called a challenging period to flows.
• Iron Ore was down -3% in Asia, BHP, FMG and RIO all closing more than 2% below their intraday highs.
• Gold was flat in Asia today after adding ~$US10/oz over the weekend, trading around $US1923/oz. Gold names were seen as a place to hide though, featuring heavily in the top performers.
• Asian stocks were mixed today. The Nikkei fell -.6% while a rebound in China facing tech stocks supported the Hang Sang (+0.47%) and China (+0.21%).
• US Futures are pointing to a soft start tonight, S&P500 pointing down around -0.4% while Nasdaq futures are down more than -0.5%.

ASX 200 Chart - Intraday

ASX 200 Chart - Daily

Strandline (ASX: STA) 26c

STA -5.45%: the mineral sands producer struggled today despite putting out a seemingly positive announcement that they have now shipped a total of 65kt of heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) from their Coburn asset in WA. The issue falls into two parts. Firstly. the latest shipment, while a slight increase in price received per tonne, was around 20% smaller than the previous shipment, and took an extra week to set sail given shipping issues and constraints on mining equipment availability. Secondly, Strandline have struggled with the ramp-up of the mineral separation plant (MSP) which will now come online months after initial expectations. Strandline is trading ~35% below where we took profits on the position last year, but we remain on the sidelines given the ongoing issues.

Broker Moves

• Monadelphous Up as Jefferies Raises to Buy on Maintenance Growth
• Steadfast Rated New Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley; PT A$6.40
• AUB Group Rated New Overweight at Morgan Stanley; PT A$37
• Magellan Financial Cut to Underperform at Macquarie; PT A$7.25
• Leo Lithium Ltd Rated New Overweight at JPMorgan; PT A$1.40

Major Movers Today

Have a great night

The Market Matters Team

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