Next Week At A Glance – 5-9 May 2025

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For a more comprehensive preview of next week’s events, please refer to “The Monday Report”, published each Monday morning. For all economic data release dates, ex-div dates and times and other relevant information, please refer to the FNArena Calendar.

The week that was in Australian Finance:

-Signs of a rapprochement between China and the US on tariffs saw the ASX200 head into its seventh consecutive day of gains on Friday. The ASX200 is tracking toward a nearly 3% rise over the past week.

-The strength of the market(s) is no doubt surprising even the most bullish investors. But sometimes, markets just want to go up, proving, in the month of April, that sentiment and momentum can overshoot in both directions.

-US markets also continued to rally, led by a suite of better-than-expected quarterly earnings reports from technology stocks, with Meta and Microsoft boosting the AI investment theme flowing through to Australian data centre stocks, including NextDC ((NXT)) and Goodman Group ((GMG)).

-The local technology sector has been the standout this week, reaching its highest level in almost eight weeks on Thursday, rising over 9% for the week. It was followed by real estate at 5.4%, and healthcare, energy, and consumer discretionary sectors all up over 4%.

-May brings the reporting season for out-of-cycle companies, with banks including Macquarie Group ((MQG)) but ex CommBank ((CBA)) announcing half-year earnings next week.

-Light & Wonder ((LNW)) and Orica ((ORI)) will also  report earnings, alongside quarterly updates from Endeavour Group ((EDV)), QBE Insurance ((QBE)), News Corp ((NWS)), and REA Group ((REA)).

-No doubt, the ongoing US reporting season –and ours– will offer more colour on how tariff uncertainty is impacting the macro outlook. Notably, McDonald’s is among the companies flagging earnings downgrades in the US, with travel companies such as Corporate Travel ((CTD)) and Flight Centre ((FLT)), as well as the likes of Amcor ((AMC)) equally citing soft demand in North America.

-FNArena has been bathing in a sea of quarterly updates, so be sure to check out this week’s broker updates in In Case You Missed It BC Extra Upgrades & Downgrades  ( https://fnarena.com/index.php/2025/05/02/in-case-you-missed-it-bc-extra-upgrades-downgrades-02-05-25/ ) as well as our daily broker call updates at https://fnarena.com/index.php/financial-news/australian-broker-call/.

Have a great long weekend, from the FNArena Team

Corporate news in the week that was:

-Brookfield starts roadshow to sell $3bn La Trobe Financial

-Keppel Infrastructure reports strong performance for Ixom, with growth in chemicals and bitumen segments.

 -Nanosonics (NAN)) CEO warns that U.S. tariff plans under the Trump administration could push Australian medical start-ups to relocate to the U.S., urging the Australian government to offer support to keep development onshore.

 -Blackstone is looking at a major sell-off of AirTrunk’s data centres to unlock billions, testing investor appetite just months after its takeover.

 -Alkane Resources ((ALK)) and Mandalay merge in $1bn deal to expand gold and copper production.

 -Domain Group Holdings ((DHG)) extends CoStar’s due diligence on $2.8bn takeover bid.

 -Telix Pharmaceuticals’ ((TLX)) glioma imaging agent, Pixclara, was not approved by the FDA, requiring more clinical evidence for future consideration.

 -Challenger ((CGF)) is seeking partnerships to expand into private credit, with talks underway with potential partners like Orde Financial.

– WiseTech Global ((WTC)) founder Richard White quietly settles with ex-employee over sex-for-visa allegations as scrutiny of his leadership intensifies.

– Betr offers $360m bid for PointsBet Holdings ((PBH)) after acquiring 19.9% stake.

 -Northern Star Resources ((NST)) cuts FY25 gold output forecast, raises cost outlook.

 -Auckland International Airport ((AIA)) has delayed its second runway project by at least 10 years, citing improved operational efficiency.

 -Mineral Resources ((MIN)) rules out equity raise as its debt hits $5.4bn, and shares rise despite financial struggles.

 -Peninsula Energy’s ((PEN)) shares have dropped -70%, leading to a trading suspension and concerns over a production downgrade. 

 -Australia’s wine exports to China are slowing as consumption in China and globally declines.

-Westpac ((WBC)) flagged hedging losses of -$140m for the upcoming 1H25 earnings result.

-Spark New Zealand ((SPK)) is seeking a co-investor for its data centre portfolio, estimated at NZ$1.1bn.

-Resolute Mining ((RSG)) will acquire two Cote d’Ivoire gold projects from AngloGold for -$234m.

-FIIG Securities is being acquired by Ausiex.

-Dimerix ((DXB)) has secured one of the largest licensing deals by an Australian biotech, with Amicus Therapeutics agreeing to $940m in payments for future sales of its kidney disease drug.

-WiseTech Global ((WTC)) is conducting a strategic review for the potential acquisition of NYSE-listed supply chain platform e3open for up to -$3.5bn.

-L1 Capital has proposed a merger with Platinum Asset Management ((PTM)).

Corporate Calendar

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