End of Day – Tue 21 June

• The ASX 200 closed up 90 points (+1.4%) to 6524, the market rallied through the day although finished off highs. The market was little changed by Philip Lowes's RBA speech and minutes from the June meeting. The RBA said the pace of interest rate rise will depend on inflation and the jobs market. The market also enjoyed the RBA downplaying the chances of a 75bp rate rise at the July meeting. The review of the RBA’s yield curve control policy was about as exciting as it sounds. The board said while the measures were successful, they also caused some reputational damage to the Bank. Energy and miners were the most improved sectors. BHP Group (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RIO) up 1.7% and 2.3% respectively, recovering some of yesterday’s weakness. Coal stocks were the standout performers as more European countries revive coal-fired power sectors. Whitehaven (WHC) up 5.3% and New Hope (NHC) up 2.2%. News coal miners in QLD will have to pay new royalties took some of the shine off the sector. Property and healthcare names were the worst performers. CSL Limited (CSL) down 1.2% and Cochlear (COH) off 1.6%. The big four banks were all positive. On the corporate front, Westpac (WBC) to launch a $750m capital notes offer. Stockland (SGP) sees a second-half dividend of 14.6c, in line with guidance. GrainCorp (GNC) up 5.0%, reaffirmed full-year guidance. Humm (HUM) up 5.0% on speculation it may have to raise equity after profit fall. Bega (BGA) falling another 1.8% on another broker downgrade. Australian Agricultural Co. (AAC) CEO steps down. Weekly consumer confidence was up 1.6% to 81.7 after a 7.6% fall the week before. A reading of 100 is considered neutral. Dow Futures up 391 points. US markets returning after a long weekend.

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