By: Anas-ur-Rasheed Khan Equities: The S&P 500 reported weekly losses last week with trade tensions and rising bond yields taking centre stage. The markets, particularly in the US, have been been reacting sharply to any data that provides input into future interest rate expectations. The FOMC meeting minutes in relation to the 2nd of May…
By: Thomas Barry Equities: Equity markets this week were subdued by resurgent political issues. The S&P 500 ended the week mostly flat, down 8 points or 0.3%. North Korea threatened to pull out of historic denuclearisation negotiations after the U.S. conducted military drills with South Korea. Trade war tensions also flared up again as Japan…
By: Tony Xie Channel 7 In recent times, Australian television channels have looked for ways to ensure their sustainability, following the onset of other forms of entertainment such as Netflix and YouTube. Speaking at the Macquarie Connections Australian Conference on May 3rd, Ryan Stokes, Chief Executive of Seven Group Holdings, discussed various potential strategies that…
By: Michael Lee Equities: Equity markets continued to be dominated by the growth story in the US with low unemployment and moderate inflation at 2.1%. The S&P 500 recorded 2.2% for the week. What’s new is the optimism from the denuclearisation of North Korea with three Americans hostages being released, ahead of the upcoming Trump-Kim…
By: Mazen Elsabrouty Saputo Drinks Up Murray Goulburn Without Koroit Canadian dairy giant Saputo has finally had its $1.3 billion takeover offer of Murray Goulburn accepted by the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission). Despite the ACCC raising concerns about competition in the south-west Victorian milk market, after two intense periods of consultation, the ACCC…
By: Jason Shao Equities: Amidst the Royal Commission probe into the financial sector, AMP’s stock has slumped 26% from recent highs to its low last week, after seeing its Executive Chairman and Chief Executive resign. However, the share price has seemingly held its ground in the last few days, rising 3% from the bottom to…
By: Charlene Chen Vocus Group On 24 April, 2018, Vocus Group, a Sydney-based telecommunications company, made a formal announcement that it has ended the discussion for selling its New Zealand assets. ‘‘This is a top quality asset and we said at the start of the process that we were looking for a top price”, Vocus…
By: Anas-ur-Rasheed Khan Equities: US markets endured yet another turbulent week this week. The S&P500 index is currently down ~1.7% on the week with the last trading session of the week yet to go. The backdrop of the market reaction has left investors bamboozled. On one hand, this week concluded a remarkable stream of earnings…
By: Thomas Barry Equities: Equity markets are expected to be buoyed throughout the week by positive political news. The standout news is of course North Korea’s agreement to cease hostilities and dismantle their nuclear weapons program. Additionally, border tensions along the disputed Chinese-Indian border appear to be easing as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian…
By: Tony Xie Commonwealth Bank In what could be the largest initial public offering (IPO) since the flotation of Medibank Private back in 2014, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) announced on Tuesday 17th April its intentions of divesting its global wealth management division, Colonial First State Global Asset Management (CFSGAM). Following a strategic review of…
By: Michael Lee Equities: This week has seen the US equity market going through a roller coaster. The NASDAQ tumbled more than 1.6% on Tuesday after Alphabet dropped more than 5% amid concerns of its capex spending in order to keep up with rivals. Luckily, investor’s gloom around overvalued technology sectors was lifted on Thursday…
By: Jason Shao Equities: There were many revelations last week in the financial sector, as the Banking Royal Commission uncovered several less-than-ethical procedures. Fee-for-no-service was a key theme, as financial advisors across the big four banks as well as AMP charged fees to clients who were receiving either no advice or “dud advice”. On one…