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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
A listener production. The winning streak remains alive with the ASX bouncing back from early losses and which Aussie sector has just slumped by close to 7% in three days. Good afternoon, I'm Steve Daglian. It's Wednesday the 17th of June. Welcome to the CommSec Market Update. Thank you. Hello, everyone.
Chapter 2: What recent market trends are impacting the ASX 200?
I hope you've had a great day so far. We've actually done quite well to push a little higher this afternoon. The ASX 200 is up around half a percent at the moment. It doesn't sound like much, but it is a significant swing from the lows of the day. In fact, at one stage early, we were down by as much as 0.7%.
And it's a somewhat similar performance of what we saw yesterday when the market staged a very impressive recovery in And it was thanks partly to the Reserve Bank keeping interest rates on hold. This was after three consecutive rate hikes so far that we've had in 2026. And also something I will point out with that Reserve Bank decision is it was a unanimous decision.
So all nine voting members that decide what to do with interest rates each time they meet voted in favour of keeping rates on hold. And this is the first time that a rate call receives support from all Reserve Bank board members. was back in February when they started raising interest rates. And mind you, this was when they raised rates for the first time in about two and a half years.
It also means that the ASX 200 is up by close to 4% in four days. And we actually got to within striking distance. We're talking like 23 points away from the 9,000 point level, which is considered to be a bit of a psychological barrier for markets. And it also means that we're about 2.5% now away from a record high. Now, the major catalyst, of course, this week so far has been the US and Iran.
They reached that interim deal, which could lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz on some level, at least as early as this Friday, which is when the deal is expected to be formally signed in Switzerland. Markets maybe just We're understandably a touch cautious, though, since the reports that some of those details are being worked out.
And we know that until things are signed on the dotted line, we're not completely out of the woods yet. And also, there's going to be a 60-day ceasefire period where they're going to kind of nut out some of the key details and sticking points as well. The US markets last night, just a tad hesitant as well.
And this was ahead of the first Federal Reserve meeting under Kevin Walsh, who is the new big boss, the new Fed chair. And this is a four-year term. So market is less concerned with the decision itself. which is likely to be very much a non-event because rates are expected to remain on hold this time around.
But what's going to be more interesting tonight and tomorrow morning is what Kevin Walsh will actually signal in his debut as far as kicking off an extended period in a term. So four-year term, but there's every chance that that gets extended past that as well. And of course, I'll mention SpaceX. because it managed to lift again last night in pretty volatile trade.
So it means that, you know, it's only had three days on the market, but it briefly became the fourth largest company on the US share market last night. So it overtook the likes of Microsoft and also Amazon before then dropping from those heights. But still, here's a stat. market cap of about 2.66 trillion US dollars at the moment, which means it's larger than the entire Australian share market.
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Chapter 3: How did the Reserve Bank's decision affect interest rates?
They've been dominating this week. Gold prices have gained now for three consecutive days. We've had improvements across the gold mining sector now of around 20% as a group in just four trading days as well.
And it's been boosted in part by a softening US dollar, decreased worries around inflation and US rate hikes, and that has helped to drive gold prices higher after what was a pretty rough week. few weeks, it must be said. Energy stocks are in the red today. They're down 2.3%. Really not surprising considering that oil prices are down about 15% now over four days and 6% lower overnight as well.
So they're the lowest they've been in about three months. And again, this is largely in reaction to the US-Iran deal, which could just help oil supplies gradually pick up over time out of the Persian Gulf. And the financials, I mean, they're up about half a percent. And when we see improvements coming through there for most stocks in that sector,
that tends to be pretty helpful for lifting the ASX 200. So let's take a look at some individual winners and losers now, because on the winners list, we're continuing to see a number of gold miners, Catalyst Metals, Pantoro Gold, Regis Resources, Resolute Mining, Aurobanda Mining. I mean, they're all up very strongly today. Some as high as close to 10% lift.
We've also got Sims Metal lifting around 2% today, unrelated to to the gold miners, but this is a metals and electronics recycler. And it upgraded its profit goals for the year by roughly 14%. And this is a 14% lift from the estimates it provided just three months earlier.
So it cited improved trading conditions, demand for decommissioning old data center equipment, which it thinks is going to be helpful. Just a processes it and then sells it on to places like steel mills and manufacturers. Travel stocks have also continued to stand out, boosted by the federal government removing its do not travel advice on a number of Middle Eastern countries.
But perhaps more importantly, it's just hopes that oil could start flowing again as well through the Strait of Hormuz, which has already, as I pointed out earlier, pushed down oil prices significantly. So we've got stocks like web travel up strongly today. Flight Centre is up about 5% at the moment. And this means that the market is actually looking past a profit downgrade from the travel agent.
So Flight Centre earlier said that due to the disruption caused by the Middle East conflict, it had to cut its earnings guidance. But at the same time, it tried to just reassure investors that a US-Iran deal, if it gets across the line eventually and an end to the war, that would certainly be a tailwind in the coming year.
And I'll point out ARN Media, it's up about 24% today on news that it settled all legal proceedings with Kyle Sanderlands and is agreeing to pay about $12 million in cash and provide about $1.5 million in advertising. So ARN owns KISS and also Gold Networks as well. So A decent day, still a bit of volatility in markets. It's been the case really all week.
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