Australian lithium miner Pilbara Minerals saw a 3.4 per cent boost to its share price after the world’s second-biggest producer SQM announced a “pretty large dividend” overnight,said Amir. “And that follows the company last week giving a really bullish outlook on lithium,expecting lithium prices to stay elevated for the rest of 2022 and into 2023. So overall,sentiment in lithium is pretty strong.”
The other lift to the local market came from coal as the rest of the world begins buying the fossil fuel for the Northern Hemisphere winter,with investors getting hopeful for coal prices to move higher in January,said Amir.
Brickworks shares were up slightly at 0.8 per cent after the building products maker announced a full-year net profit of $746 million,up 159 per cent from the previous year.
Brickworks chairman Robert Millner told shareholders at the annual general meeting on Tuesday that the company booked record earnings “despite a number of challenges during the period,with inflationary impacts significantly increasing the cost of doing business”.
Overnight on Wall Street,the S&P 500 lost 0.4 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell by 1.1 per cent. The Dow Jones edged 0.1 per cent lower. A 6.2 per cent jump by Walt Disney cushioned the index’s drop. The entertainment giant announced that it had ousted CEO Bob Chapek andbrought back his predecessor,Bob Iger,to replace him.
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China on Sunday announced its first new death from COVID-19in nearly six months as strict new measures are being imposed in Beijing and across the country to ward against new outbreaks. China’s ongoing strict lockdown policies have been crimping economic growth in the world’s second-largest economy and stressing businesses.
Energy stocks were among the biggest losers in the US market as WTI crude oil prices fell 4.5 per cent. Exxon Mobil slipped 1.1 per cent.
Technology stocks also weighed down major indexes. Apple fell 2.2 per cent.
Bond yields fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury,which influences mortgage rates,slipped to 3.81 per cent from 3.83 per cent late on Friday.
US investors face a relatively quiet week,with Wall Street closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving and finishing early on Friday.
Tweet of the day:
Quote of the day:”I first want to extend again my unreserved apology to our more than 70,000 shareholders and the wonderfully committed and hard-working 8,000 team members...We let you down. Our licence in New South Wales is currently suspended. We fully understand the seriousness of that situation,” said Star Entertainment Group chairman Ben Heap at the company’s AGM.