Marcus Today End of Day Podcast – Thursday 17th November

 A very narrow day of trade today, the ASX 200 finished up 14 points (+0.2%), with a range of only 40 points. Defensive stocks were the best place to be while resources weighed on the market. Iron ore miners struggled, BHP was down 1.5%, RIO was down 1.8%, and FMG fell 1.8%. S32 lost 5.2% on a Macquarie downgrade. Financials were better after some weakness yesterday. The Big Bank Basket was up 0.5% to $183.75. MQG joined in, up 1.1%. Healthcare shone brightly, with CSL up 1.4%, RMD up 1.5%, and FPH up 3.9%. Consumer staples were higher, with WOW up 2.1%, COL up 1.9%, and WES rising 2.5%. The travel sector enjoyed a nice rally on the back of some solid numbers from WEB, up 10.1%. Technology stocks pushed higher, the All-Tech Index was up xx%, with REA up 0.3%, XRO up 1.7%, and WTC climbing 1.3%. Energy stocks struggled, coal stocks in particular, fell hard, following a 5.3% fall in the coal price overnight. WHC down 6.3%, CRN down 3.8% and NHC down 6.5%.  Lithium miners steadied the ship after suffering from some profit-taking in recent sessions. And gold stocks were a bit all over the shop, SFR the biggest loser, down 3.0%. In corporate news, the PDL/PPT deal in the courts with PDL up 10.5% as it lowered its takeover offer of PPT, down 12.6%. WEB flew up 10.1% on some well-received first-half results. In economic news, unemployment fell to 3.4% in October, down from 3.5% in September, with consensus for a 0.1% rise. The market was relatively unphased, the release paves the way for further RBA rate rises. Asian markets are mixed. Dow Futures are up 21 points.

Why not sign up for a free trial? Get access to expert insights and research and become a better investor.