AU Morning Wrap: ASX Falls; Gold Miners Are Among the Strongest Performers

Moomoo News AU wrote a column · Mar 13, 2023 07:36

G'day, mooers! Check out the latest news on today's stock market!
• US stocks sink and bond yields crash
• ASX opens 0.23% lower
• Stocks to watch: Carsales, Capricorn Metals, Silver Lake Resources
- Moomoo News AU

AU Morning Wrap: ASX Falls; Gold Miners Are Among the Strongest Performers

Wall Street Summary

Stocks tumbled as investors ran for safe havens on Friday, unnerved by concerns about the health of the U.S. financial system and a still-strong jobs report.

The selloff deepened after regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank, marking the largest bank failure in the U.S. since 2008. Bond yields tumbled.

The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ closed down 56.73 points, or 1.4%, at 3861.59, while the blue-chip $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ fell 345.22 points, or 1.1%, to 31909.64. The $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ lost 199.47 points, or 1.8%, to close at 11138.89. Investor sentiment has broadly soured in recent days, with the S&P 500 finishing down nearly 5% on the week.

AU Market Watch

The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ opened down 0.23 per cent as US authorities announced plans to limit the fallout from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, cushioning the sharemarket from a larger fall.

Gold miners were among the strongest performers as the price of the precious metal surged 2.8 per cent as investors sought safe haven assets.
$Silver Lake Resources Ltd (SLR.AU)$ rose 6.4 per cent to $1.04 and $Regis Resources Ltd (RRL.AU)$ climbed 6.2 per cent to $1.75.

$Capricorn Metals Ltd (CMM.AU)$ rallied 12.7 per cent to $4.27 after reporting its half-year results on Friday.

Carsales dropped 5 per cent to $21.50 after its institutional entitlement offer raised $380 million at $19.95 a share.

The major banks were mixed; $ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ANZ.AU)$ rose 0.1 per cent to $23.87, $CommBank (CBA.AU)$ climbed 0.4 per cent to $95.84, $National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB.AU)$ firmed 0.1 per cent to $29.02 and Westpac fell 0.1 per cent to $21.77.

Stocks to Watch

$Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd (NEU.AU)$: ASX-listed biotech Neuren has received FDA approval for its trofinetide drug to treat neurological disorder Rett sydnrome. The drug will be licensed to US pharmaceutical group Acadia with Neuren set to receive a US$40M milestone payment upon first commercial sales and an estimated $US70 million in royalty revenues.

Neuren stock is up 87 per cent over the past year and last closed on a market cap of $988 million. The company has several other drugs at trial stage for which it will seek regulatory approval if the clinical data permits.

$Sezzle Inc (SZL.AU)$: Sezzle says its relationship with Silicon Valley Bank is limited to funds on deposit which are not material to the company's ongoing business or operations.

Sezzle had total cash and cash equivalents of around $US68 million ($103.9 million) as of March 10, of which $US1.2 million was held at SVB, representing less than 2 per cent of its cash and cash equivalent balance.

$Redbubble Ltd (RBL.AU)$: Redbubble has $1.7 million deposited with Silicon Valley Bank.

Based on the available information, and after taking the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insurance of $250,000 into account, Redbubble estimates its cash exposure is at around $1.3 million.

$CAR Group Ltd (CAR.AU)$: Carsales.com has raised $380 million after it successfully completed the institutional component of its fully underwritten entitlement offer announced last Wednesday.

The institutional offer was priced at $19.95 a share, and was well-supported by eligible institutional shareholders with a take-up of about 96 per cent.

Trading Ex-div: $Dusk Group Ltd (DSK.AU)$, $Chorus Ltd (CNU.AU)$, $Pepper Money Ltd (PPM.AU)$

Dividends paid: None

Source: Dow Jones Newswires, AFR

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