CommSec Daily Report s

Evening Report | 28 January 2021

Latest news Latest Prices 4.30pm AEDT Level Previous % chg  The Australian market posted its biggest tumble in four months, All Ords 6,917.6 7,060.2 -2.0 with the ASX 200 slumping by 130.9pts or 1.93 per cent to 6649.7 ASX 200 6,649.7 6,780.6 -1.9 following even greater declines in the US overnight. All markets Shanghai 3,515.6 3,573.3 -1.6 across the region fell heavily, which was partly attributed to Japan Nikkei 28,197.4 28,635.2 -1.5 concerns coronavirus vaccines might take longer to manufacture and distribute than hoped. US Dow Jones 30,303.2 30,937.0 -2.0 US Nasdaq 13,270.6 13,626.1 -2.6  Keep in mind that US stocks have surged by 20 per cent in three UK FTSE 6,567.4 6,654.0 -1.3 months, while Aussie shares are up 15 per cent since late October and hit 11-month highs on Monday. With just one trading Dow Futures 30,099.0 30,189.0 -0.3 day remaining in January, the ASX 200 remains on track to lift for a fourth consecutive month unless stocks drop by more than 0.9 Last Previous % chg per cent on Friday. Consumer Discretionary 3,042.4 3,084.0 -1.3 Consumer Staples 12,889.9 13,040.6 -1.2  Last night, US stocks fell by 2.5 per cent. The Wall Street Journal Energy 8,361.5 8,548.7 -2.2 attributed this to delays to COVID vaccine distribution in the US. Financials 5,645.2 5,735.0 -1.6 Apple, Facebook and Tesla all released their latest quarterly results Financial-x-A-REIT 6,296.3 6,396.4 -1.6 earlier today. Apple had its most profitable quarter on record, Health Care 40,495.5 41,642.9 -2.8 generating US$111bn in sales and a 29 per cent lift in profit to Industrials 5,754.5 5,853.8 -1.7 US$28.76bn between October and December 2020 (~A$37.6bn). Information Tech 2,221.7 2,332.7 -4.8 This was fuelled by higher-end iPhone sales and pandemic induced Materials 15,703.0 16,111.9 -2.5 demand for tablets and laptops. ASX200 A-REIT 1,394.9 1,400.5 -0.4 Telecommunications 1,291.7 1,313.5 -1.7  Most sectors and 90 per cent of stocks on the ASX 200 lost Utilities 6,395.7 6,378.7 0.3 ground today. Technology stocks – last year’s market darlings –

were today’s biggest underperformers. (APT), Wisetech Last Day Move % chg (WTC) and (XRO) fell by 6 per cent. BHP $44.28 -$0.77 -1.7  A number of quarterly updates were released today; however RIO $113.70 -$3.35 -2.9 this was overshadowed by heavy losses across the market. CBA $85.14 -$1.46 -1.7 Fortescue Metals (FMG) fell by 4 per cent. The iron ore miner said ANZ $24.22 -$0.33 -1.3 it shipped 46.4mt of ore between October and December (flat on NAB $23.92 -$0.30 -1.2 last year). WBC $21.46 -$0.20 -0.9 TLS $3.10 -$0.04 -1.3  Gold stocks as a group are trading near nine-month lows. WOW $41.00 -$0.87 -2.1 Newcrest (NCM) and Evolution (EVN) posted updates. Both said WES $54.80 -$0.45 -0.8 that gold production rose by 6 per cent over the December quarter WPL $25.14 -$0.43 -1.7 and that production costs eased. CSL $266.90 -$8.30 -3.0 COH $195.60 -$5.95 -3.0  Following the 135 per cent rally in heavily shorted US video game NCM $25.33 -$0.74 -2.8 company, GameStop’s shares last night, some of the best improvers were heavily short sold companies globally. This is when Current Aust 4pm % chg market participants bet against the company and profit from AUD/USD 0.7628 0.7663 -0.45 declines in its share price. This included AUD/EUR 0.6304 0.6327 -0.36 (TWE), Invocare (IVC), (WEB) and Inghams (ING). AUD/JPY 79.531 79.796 -0.33  8.2bn shares changed hands today, worth $9.1bn. 297 stocks rose, 1186 fell and 267 finished unchanged. 11am Official Cash 0.10 0.10 0.00 Aust 90 day futures 0.02 0.02 0.00  Tonight, an update on US GDP will be released while a number of Oil Nymex ($US/b) US Close 50.03 50.37 0.0 companies are due to post quarterly results. This will include, Gold futures($US/oz) US Close 1838.40 1848.90 -0.1

Amazon, Visa, Atlassian, Mastercard, McDonalds and two US airlines.

Steven Daghlian - Market Analyst (Author) Twitter: @commsec

This report provides general commentary on domestic economic themes and is produced by the Commonwealth Securities Limited (CommSec) Chief Economist. It is not intended to be an investment research report. This report has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not to be construed as a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any securities or financial instruments, or as a recommendation and/or investment advice. Before acting on the information in this report, you should consider the appropriateness and suitability of the information, having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs and, if necessary, seek appropriate professional or financial advice. CommSec believes that the information in this report is correct and any opinions, conclusions or recommendations are reasonably held or made based on information available at the time of its compilation, but no representation or warranty is made as to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of any statements made in this report. Any opinions, conclusions or recommendations set forth in this report are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to the opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed by any other member of the of group of companies. CommSec is under no obligation to, and does not, update or keep current the information contained in this report. Neither Commonwealth Bank of Australia nor any of its affiliates or subsidiaries accepts liability for loss or damage arising out of the use of all or any part of this report. All material presented in this report, unless specifically indicated otherwise, is under copyright of CommSec. This report is approved and distributed in Australia by Commonwealth Securities Limited ABN 60 067 254 399, a wholly owned but not guaranteed subsidiary of Commonwealth Bank of Australia ABN 48 123 123 124. This report is not directed to, nor intended for distribution to or use by, any person or entity who is a citizen or resident of, or located in, any locality, state, country or other jurisdiction where such distribution, publication, availability or use would be contrary to law or regulation or that would subject any entity within the Commonwealth Bank group of companies to any registration or licensing requirement within such jurisdiction.