CAPITALISTS AND FINANCIERS

Investors pile into ASX amid Wall Street exodus

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Original article by Alex Gluyas
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 30-Apr-25

Australian-listed companies have benefited from a global shift of capital away from Wall Street in 2025, amid the turmoil caused by the Trump administration’s trade policies. Foreign investors owned a record 18 per cent of US stocks at the start of the year. However, Goldman Sachs estimates that foreign investors have sold $US60bn ($93.2bn) worth of US shares in recent weeks. Elise McKay from Pendal says this trend may have contributed to the S&P/ASX 20’s outperformance last week; it gained 2.5 per cent, while the benchmark ASX 200 rose by just 1.9 per cent.

CORPORATES
THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INCORPORATED, PENDAL GROUP LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 20 INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX

Investors back Rio payout cut for climate

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 2-Mar-20

Camille Simeon of Aberdeen Standard Investments says mining companies such as Rio Tinto needs to consider the short-term financial costs of taking action on climate change compared with the long-term cost of inaction. She warns that miners may incur higher costs of capital, stranded assets, reduced demand and lower shareholder returns if they fail to reduce carbon emissions. Ross Illingworth of Kingfisher Capital Partners has praised Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques for asking shareholders whether they are willing to accept lower dividends in return for faster progress on reducing emissions.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, ABERDEEN STANDARD INVESTMENTS AUSTRALIA LIMITED, KINGFISHER CAPITAL PARTNERS

Rio shareholders want dividends and climate action

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 28-Feb-20

Rio Tinto has released a report which notes that some of its investments aimed at reducing carbon emissions will generate returns that are below its typical thresholds. The resources giant has set a net zero emissions target of 2050, and CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques says this is likely to include the use of carbon offsets. He has used an investor briefing in London to raise the question of whether shareholders are willing to accept lower dividend payouts in return for faster progress on reducing emissions.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Stocks lashed by recession fears

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 17 & 27 : 4-Oct-19

Factors such as growing uncertainty about the outlook for the global economy and a ruling from the WTO that has cleared the US to impose tariffs on European Union imports have weighed on investors worldwide. Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 has shed 2.9 per cent so far in October, while the S&P 500 in the US has fallen by three per cent. Aaryn Nania of Lucerne Investment Partners warns that investors should expect further market volatility, although Robert Buckland of Citigroup says it is too soon to predict a recession in the US and the end of the bull market.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION, LUCERNE INVESTMENT PARTNERS, CITIGROUP INCORPORATED, NIKKEI 225 INDEX, HANG SENG INDEX, SHANGHAI COMPOSITE INDEX, KOSPI INDEX, EURO STOXX 50 INDEX

Rate cuts push investors into risky territory

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 25 : 10-Jul-19

Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 recorded its third-biggest loss for 2019 on 8 July, after gaining two per cent in the previous week and about 25 per cent in the last six months. The rally in global sharemarkets during 2019 has been driven by central banks’ shift towards a monetary policy easing bias. The downturn in official interest rates is prompting more investors to embrace higher-risk asset classes, which in turn can increase market risk.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, JP MORGAN AND COMPANY INCORPORATED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD

Record low bond yields turn off investors

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro, Sarah Turner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 31-May-19

The yield on 10-year Australian governments rose to 1.53 per cent on 30 May, having fallen below the official interest rate in the previous trading session. Factor such as the prospect of a rate cut in June and the US-China trade war have weighed on the local bond market, with international fixed income investors now looking at higher-yielding asset classes. Bond managers caution that yields may continue to fall, noting that bonds in countries such as Japan and Germany currently have negative yields.

CORPORATES
JANUS HENDERSON GROUP PLC – ASX JHG, COLCHESTER GLOBAL INVESTORS LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Big four back in favour for investors

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Original article by Scott Murdoch
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 11-Feb-19

Australia’s banking index gained six per cent in the week ended 8 February, with the rally being attributed to renewed interest in the sector among international equity investors. Rahoul Chowdry of law firm Minter Ellison notes that sovereign risk concerns regarding Australian banks have abated following the release of the financial services royal commission’s final report. Mike Evans from the Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Marianne Birch of Macquarie Capital agree that the final report has created greater certainty for investors.

CORPORATES
MINTER ELLISON, BANK OF AMERICA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Investors take cover from Kim’s missile over Japan

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 17 & 24 : 30-Aug-17

Sharemarkets in the Asia-Pacific region retreated on 29 August, after North Korea fired a missile over Japan’s main islands. Futures pricing suggests that the S&P 500 will also fall as geopolitical tensions on the Korean peninsula increase. Meanwhile, the yield on 10-year US Treasuries reached a two-month low and the gold price peaked at a nine-month high of $US1,322.41 an ounce. Sue Trinh of RBC says financial markets’ initial response to the latest missile test was "relatively shallow" and short-lived.

CORPORATES
RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, KOSPI INDEX, NIKKEI 225 INDEX, HANG SENG INDEX, SHANGHAI COMPOSITE INDEX, JAPAN. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, UNITED NATIONS. SECURITY COUNCIL, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF STATE, NOMURA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, BLACKMORES LIMITED – ASX BKL, CALTEX AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX CTX, REGIS RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX RRL, RETAIL FOOD GROUP LIMITED – ASX RFG, MANTRA GROUP LIMITED – ASX MTR, DOWNER EDI LIMITED – ASX DOW, SPEEDCAST INTERNATIONAL LIMITED – ASX SDA, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Global investors moving ASX funds elsewhere

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Original article by Myriam Robin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 23-Jun-17

Some fund managers suggest that the Australian sharemarket’s 1.6 per cent downturn on 21 June was prompted by foreign investors shifting out of local equities. Meanwhile, Tony Brennan and Mark Tomlins of Citigroup say Asian sharemarkets may be more attractive to international investors at present, given their better prospects for earnings upgrades. Hasan Tevfik of Credit Suisse adds that passive fund managers are likely to reduce their exposure to Australian shares in coming years as the MSCI Asia-Pacific ex-Japan’s weighting toward Chinese and Hong Kong-listed shares increases.

CORPORATES
CITIGROUP PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, MSCI ASIA-PACIFIC EX-JAPAN INDEX, MSCI EMERGING MARKETS INDEX, MSCI INCORPORATED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, COMPUTERSHARE LIMITED – ASX CPU, MSCI AUSTRALIA INDEX

Numbers look good, so where’s the euphoria?

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 28 : 31-May-17

Australian bank and resources stocks rallied on 30 May 2017, allowing the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 to finish in the black after reaching a three-month low early in the session. Meanwhile, Citigroup notes that investor sentiment is not sufficiently high that a market retreat is likely, despite key US indices being at or near record highs. However, the S&P/ASX 200 and the S&P 500 have tended to underperform in the month of June, shedding an average of 2.2 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively over the last 10 years.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS INCORPORATED, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX, NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT