As expected the ASX was in the green this morning.
The S&P/ASX200 had gained 68.00 points or 0.94% to 7,340.50 at the time of writing.
By early trade, just after market open it was already 0.7% higher at 7,322.90, after hitting a 2-day high of 7,323.4. It has now further exceeded that.
Over the last five days, the index has gained 1.15% and is currently 3.83% off of its 52-week high.
The top-performing stocks so far on the S&P/ASX200 are Netwealth Group Limited up 15.33% and Hub24 Ltd up 9.66%.
South32 also had a good day with its shares gaining 5% after revealing a $2.8 billion deal for a Chilean copper mine.
The jobs market
Australia's labour force data was released today by the ABS, showing that employment fell 138,000 vs -110,000 expected. Full-time jobs were up 26,700 and part-time jobs down 164,700, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.6% vs 4.8% expected.
Interestingly, the participation rate fell to 64.5% vs 64.7% expected – its lowest since June 2020.
The employment to population rate fell 0.7 points to 61.5%, 0.8 points lower than the March 2020 trough.
Working conditions have changed dramatically since the pandemic hit and Australia’s employment trends are following in the footsteps of the US.
“The labour market and labour shortages have replaced returning to work as the conversation starter for everyone,” Citi chief executive Jane Fraser told the Citi Australian & New Zealand Conference on Wednesday.
“Before, the talk was all about what are you doing about COVID. Right now, in the US, it is about labour shortages.
“When the economy started to open up and people have had to return to the office, some were saying they don’t want to go back to groundhog day.
“They are saying they want a change and more flexibility. It is causing real problems on the attrition front.”
A2’s comeback continues
Shares in a2 Milk Ltd continue to rise, gaining 6% this morning. The company is now well placed to hit a three-month high.
The rise comes on the back of speculation that its so-called daigou channel may return.
Data firm Nielsen describes daigou as a person who facilitates the buying and selling of international products on behalf of a customer in mainland China.
Confidence in a2’s daigou channel gained momentum after approval was granted by Australian authorities to Sinovac, China’s COVID 19 vaccine, for international students entering Australia.
The move effectively opened the door to an increase in sales to visiting Chinese nationals who ship products back to China.
This was an important revenue stream for a2 before COVID put a halt to this arm of its operations.
On the small cap front
Shree Minerals Limited is up 10%. SHH secured approval from the Tasmanian Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its Development Proposal and Environmental Management Plan (DPEMP), an important step towards recommencing direct shipping ore (DSO) production at its Nelson Bay River Iron (NBR) Project.
Venture Minerals Limited (ASX:VMS, OTC:VTMLF) is up 8.33% after initiating an underground feasibility study at its Mount Lindsay Tin-Tungsten Project in Tasmania intended to further develop the tin and tungsten resource.
Perseus Mining Limited is up 8.06% after it confirmed the potential to boost the mineral resources at its Yaouré Gold Project in Côte d’Ivoire, with infill drilling at the CMA underground prospect returning positive results.
Emmerson Resources Limited was up 6.25% at time of writing having begun a 2500-metre drill program at the high-grade Edna Beryl gold mine and Hermitage gold-copper prospect within the Tennant Creek Project in the Northern Territory.
Aeris Resources Ltd (ASX:AIS) is up 5.88% having discovered further high-grade copper sulphide mineralisation and extended the deeper primary sulphide mineralisation strike to 300 metres following an exploratory drilling campaign at its Constellation satellite deposit in central NSW.
Infinity Lithium Corporation Ltd (ASX:INF) is up 5.6% having unveiled a robust underground scoping study for the San José Lithium Project in Spain, the second-largest JORC-compliant hard rock lithium deposit in the European Union (EU).
Archer Materials Ltd (ASX:AXE, OTC:ARRXF) is up 4.38%. Today AXE announced that it has made a major breakthrough towards developing Archer’s 12CQ chip, a world-first qubit processor technology, that could allow for quantum computing powered mobile devices. AXE was as high as 12% this morning.
Danakali Ltd (ASX:DNK, LSE:DNK, OTC:SBMSF) was up 3.49% on the back of updated Sulphate of Potash Price Forecast Analysis from CRU International Limited, which shows Muriate of Potash (MOP) prices surged higher across multiple global markets from January 2021.