AUD Reaches 4 Month High as USD Weakens

Author

Sophie Wood
November 22, 2023

Good Morning,

MetService has issued heavy rain watch with the possibility of thunderstorms for the Fiordland region on Wednesday, A Heritage-listed building; Ponsonby Post Office is on the market, a third of Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia domestic flights were late in October, and the retirement village industry is warning that requiring operators to return capital to residents within a specific timeframe could cause some smaller operators to become insolvent.

Let's jump in.

Before The Bell

Markets

  • The NZX 50 drops 0.4%, to 11,164.42 on Tuesday.

  • The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 19.8 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 7078.2 at the closing bell, with four out of the 11 sectors in the green. The All Ordinaries added 0.3 per cent to 7289.3. (AFR)

  • The Australian dollar touched a four-month high as a weakening US dollar, a stronger yuan and an iron ore rally to above $US133 a tonne continued to push the local currency higher. (AFR)

Earnings and Data

  • The parent company of online marketplace Trade Me has returned to profit, posting a $4.7 million gain for 2023 after a $2.3m loss in 2022. (NBR)

  • Task Group has posted a 35% improvement in its net after-tax loss for the first half of its 2024 financial year, thanks to the full benefit of its renewed McDonald’s deal. (NBR)

  • USX-listed Syft Technologies has posted a 2024 financial half-year loss of $8.2 million – wider than the $6.5m it reported in the previous corresponding period – but is sticking to its circa-$30m revenue guidance. (NBR)

News Summary

  • A man has been jailed for using fake banknotes at businesses in Blenheim and Palmerston North. (Stuff)

  • A family is asking for their baby’s headstone to be returned after it was stolen from an Auckland property on Monday. (Stuff)

  • A former communications manager who sexually abused her ex-boyfriend’s stepdaughter and continues to deny the offending has been discharged without conviction. (Stuff)

  • MetService has issued heavy rain watch with the possibility of thunderstorms for the Fiordland region on Wednesday. (Stuff)

  • Taylor Swift fans are sharing pictures of “second-degree” and “third-degree” burns they say are due to contact with metal flooring and fences at the star’s Eras show in Rio. (Stuff)

  • Heritage-listed Ponsonby Post Office on the market (Stuff)

  • A drunk man has punched and kicked a man in central Dunedin, in an unprovoked attack that police say was racially motivated. (Stuff)

  • At least one person is thought to have critical injuries after a serious crash in Te Puke. (Stuff)

  • Drugs, paraphernalia, a knife, as well as a ‘tick list’ were uncovered by police after they spotted people parked in a vehicle. (Stuff)

  • As coalition talks get closer to a conclusion, the National Party has been keen to push for more progress on opening up development on the mining of natural resources. (NBR)

  • The retirement village industry is warning that requiring operators to return capital to residents within a specific timeframe could cause some smaller operators to become insolvent. (NBR)

  • Defence Minister Richard Marles has described China as a source of both national wealth and anxiety, as the opposition demanded Anthony Albanese apologise for not raising with President Xi Jinping last week’s incident between the Australian and Chinese navies. (AFR)

  • About a third of Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia domestic flights were late in October, new official statistics show. (AFR)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

  • Fortescue will proceed with its first three projects under the iron ore group’s ambitious plans to become a major force in hydrogen and renewable energy, committing to investments worth $US750 million ($1.14 billion) in Australia and the United States. (AFR)

  • Embattled gaming groups Crown Resorts and Star Entertainment are no strangers to merger talk with the latter having launched a $12 billion bid to bring Australia’s biggest casino operators together in 2021. (AFR)

  • Trans-Tasman pharma distributor EBOS will pay $3.75 billion to acquire TPG Capital-backed pets and vets business Greencross, details of which were first revealed by this column last week. (AFR)

  • Listed healthcare imaging software business Pro Medicus’ two founders began selling down $176 million worth of stock on-market just before midday, after a strong run in the company’s share price. (AFR)

VC & Fundraising

  • ImpexDocs, a Sydney-headquartered software business that sells export management software solutions to the likes of Inghams and Blackmores, is getting ready to meet investors for the first time. (AFR)

Equity Raises

  • The board of Appen is considering selling the troubled data services business after a 30 per cent drop in revenue, triggering more cost-cutting and a $30 million equity raising. (AFR)

  • Fallen tech darling Appen had its broker, Barrenjoey, drumming up interest in a circa $25 million equity raising on Tuesday morning. (AFR)

Debt

  • With all the focus at Rugby Australia on the boardroom politics which ended the chairmanship of Hamish McLennan, it would be easy to forget the sport is in the midst of a long-running debt process. (AFR)

Daily Picks

  • An Otago grandmother who was trapped for up to 24 hours in her crashed car, had been reluctant to drive the 260km from Dunedin to Queenstown. Read more here.

  • The former wife of union heavyweight John Setka asked a private investigator to help her get a gun because she needed to kill her ex-husband “to survive”, a court has heard. See this article for more.

The Daily Deck is sponsored by Industrial Equity, LLC

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