K: Financial and Insurance Services

ASX drops, bounces back from early low

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Original article by Stephen Cauchi
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 19-Jan-16

The S&P/ ASX 200 index fell 0.7 per cent on 18 January 2016, closing at 4,858.7 points. The energy sector performed poorly, declining 3.4 per cent, but gains were made in sectors such as consumer, industrial and telecommunications. Woolworths rose 4.4 per cent to $A23.65 after announcing it would exit its home improvement business Masters.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AURORA FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, LOWE’S COMPANIES INCORPORATED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, HOME RETAIL GROUP PLC, HOMEBASE, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

NAB unveils pricing range for Clydesdale

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Original article by Clancy Yeates
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 19-Jan-16

National Australia Bank (NAB) expects to float its British lender Clydesdale Bank in early February 2016. Volatility on global share markets has forced the Australian-listed bank to lower its price expectations for the float. NAB’s Craig Drummond says the British bank will be offered to shareholders at between Stg1.75 and Stg2.35 a share which suggests a market capitalisation of between Stg1.54 billion and Stg2.07 billion ($A3.19 billion and $A4.29 billion).

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, CLYDESDALE BANK PLC, LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

Property proves winner for fundies

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Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 19-Jan-16

Australian real estate investment trusts (A-REITs) generated 14 per cent in total return in 2015, according to investment bank JP Morgan. Wholesale property funds and direct property returned about 12 per cent. Tim Mackay, an adviser with Quantum Financial, expects the A-REIT sector to perform well in 2016. Investors are likely to be attracted to the sector by its dividend yield of around five per cent.

CORPORATES
JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, QUANTUM FINANCIAL SERVICES, LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, AVEO GROUP – ASX AOG, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 A-REIT INDEX

Mortgage activity falls to three-year low

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 19-Jan-16

CoreLogic RP Data’s Mortgage Index fell to 70.1 in the week to 17 January 2016. The index was at 99.2 a year ago. The New South Wales mortgage index recorded a sharp decline to 90.4, falling 53.2 per cent from a month earlier. A year ago, it stood at 131.6.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RP DATA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIAN FINANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX AFG, FITCH AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PROPELL NATIONAL VALUERS PTY LTD, WBP PROPERTY GROUP PTY LTD

Brokers say shares will come back

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Original article by Stephen Cauchi, Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 18-Jan-16

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 has shed 7.9 per cent so far in 2016, closing at 4,892 points on 15 January. However, opinion is divided about the outlook for the local bourse in 2016. Morgan Stanley expects the benchmark index to end the year at 4,800 points, while Macquarie Group has a year-end forecast of 5,900 points. Meanwhile, Shane Oliver of AMP Capital expects the index to end the year at 5,500 points.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED, PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT, MORPHIC ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, DELTEC, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, PEOPLE’S BANK OF CHINA, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX, SHANGHAI COMPOSITE INDEX

Morgan Stanley tips index at 4800

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Original article by Vanessa Desloires
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 15-Jan-16

Morgan Stanley is bearish about the outlook for the Australian sharemarket in 2016, forecasting that the S&P/ASX 200 Index will end the year at 4,800 points. The investment bank expects capital returns to be minus nine per cent in 2016, while it says factors such as the prospect of further interest rate cuts and the economic outlook will weigh on earning per share growth. Meanwhile, Societe Generale’s Albert Edwards expects the S&P 500 to shed 75 per cent in 2016, to 550 points.

CORPORATES
MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED,{SPAC}STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX,{SPAC}CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED,{SPAC}RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA,{SPAC}SOCIETE GENERALE SA,{SPAC}STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX,{SPAC}CAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITED,{SPAC}UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD,{SPAC}ISELECT LIMITED – ASX ISU,{SPAC}GODFREYS GROUP LIMITED – ASX GFY

Australian Roy Morgan Business Confidence declines further in December

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 13-Jan-16

A Roy Morgan Business Single Source survey has found that Australian business confidence fell by 4.2 points to 114.5 in December 2015, following an 0.6 per cent decline in November. The combined drop of 4.8 points (or four per cent) over the last two months is a likely indication that the initial burst of confidence following Malcolm Turnbull becoming Prime Minister is beginning to "cool off", although business confidence remains 11.6 per cent above the level prior to his appointment. The drop in business confidence in December was mainly due to deterioration in the outlook for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, which has fallen to its lowest level since August. Despite this poor outlook for Australia over the coming year, businesses still maintain a positive attitude, with 60 per cent agreeing that the next 12 months will be a good time to invest in growing their business, well up on the 51 per cent seen in August.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence falls following rout on Australian share-markets

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Jan-16

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rating for Australia fell by 1.9 per cent to 114.1 in the week ended 10 January 2016, retracing the 0.8 per cent rise in the previous week. Concerns around China’s economic growth prospects and volatility on global financial markets are likely to have had an impact on consumer confidence. The fall was largely driven by a 9.9 per cent dip in consumers’ views towards their current finances, which recorded the largest fall since March 2012. The sub-index on "economic conditions in the next 12 months" fell a modest 0.3 per cent, whereas "economic conditions in the next five years" rose by 2.6 per cent.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

RBS tells investors to ‘sell everything’

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Original article by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 24 : 13-Jan-16

Royal Bank of Scotland is extremely bearish about the outlook for global financial markets in 2016, advising investors to offload all holdings except for "quality bonds". The bank has forecast that sharemarkets in the US and Europe could fall by 10-20 per cent, while global bond yields will also decline sharply and the US Federal Reserve may be forced to cut interest rates. Meanwhile, RBS says the price of Brent crude oil could potentially test $US16 per barrel. Originally published in "The Telegraph".

CORPORATES
ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND GROUP PLC, FTSE 100 INDEX, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, BANK OF ENGLAND, ORGANISATION OF PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES, MORGAN STANLEY AND COMPANY INCORPORATED, UBS AG

All sectors in the red, seven ASX stocks rise

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Original article by Jessica Sier
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 12-Jan-16

Australian resources and financial stocks were heavily sold down in 2015, a trend that has continued in 2016. The financial sector has shed 8.12 per cent in the year to date, while the materials sector is down 9.32 per cent. Defensive stocks such as retailers and telcos have also fallen sharply, although the healthcare sector has shed just 3.84 per cent. JB Hi-Fi, Evolution Mining, Newcrest Mining and Regis Resources are among the few S&P/ASX 200 stocks to be in the black so far in 2016.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, EVOLUTION MARKETS LLC, NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, REGIS RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX RRL, AUSTRALIAN PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED – ASX API, PRIMARY HEALTH CARE LIMITED – ASX PRY, RESMED INCORPORATED – ASX RMD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES GROUP LIMITED