Weekly Reports | 11:07 AM
A brief look at important company events and economic data releases next week.
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:
- Volatility is never far from stocks and markets in 2026, and this week has once again shown it remains the trend du jour locally.
- Geopolitical tensions, with the escalating conflict in the Middle East and President Trump reinstating global tariffs as last year’s measures rolled off, have left both bond and equity markets on shakier ground.
- Inflation remains an issue globally, both for countries reliant on oil and gas imports and for the energy-sufficient US economy. Oil prices are global; no one escapes.
- As we head into the weekend, there are more than rumblings about US troops on the ground in Iran. Time will tell whether the US or Iran is the first to TACO, or not, with Brent crude futures back at US$100/bbl. Crude oil is up 32.71% this month. Ouch!
- It’s starting to feel a lot like Groundhog Day — wars, tariffs and inflation, for now.
- The ASX200 has continued to trade sideways, in a trading range trend in place for the past 15 weeks, between 8500-9000.
- This week, Energy rallied 7% with Materials up almost 3%, rotating out of Consumer Discretionary, Healthcare and Information Technology, all down between -4.5% and -5.5%.
- Back home, June employment data was mixed, but sufficiently strong to prompt a hawkish repricing of RBA rate hike expectations ahead of next week’s June quarter CPI print.
- ANZ Bank is forecasting trimmed mean inflation to rise 0.9% q/q, taking annual growth to 3.7% y/y, slightly below the RBA’s forecast of 3.8% y/y.
- The Australian interest rate market started Friday pricing in a 40% chance of the RBA hiking rates at its August 11 meeting. The market is now fully pricing in one 25bp rate hike by November, with the cash rate finishing the year at 4.6%. There is also a 50% chance of another 25bp rate hike in February 2027.
- US markets are increasingly coming under pressure. The memory and chip momentum trade has done more than wobble and is looking for stable ground. While earnings are broadly coming in as expected, Google’s negative free cash flow print in its latest quarterly result, following both an equity and debt raising alongside higher capital expenditure, has once again raised questions about AI spending and when it will begin to generate meaningful returns.
- The Australian reporting season kicks off in earnest in August, but momentum typically builds into the third and fourth weeks. Expect volatility, and perhaps some ugly or non-committal outlook statements, as well as job cuts, according to Goldman Sachs.
Wishing everyone a great weekend from the team at FNArena.
For a calendar of earnings result releases and a summary of earnings results to date, refer to FNArena’s Corporate Results Monitor (https://www.fnarena.com/index.php/reporting_season/)
Corporate news in the week that was:
- Next Capital acquires Fujitsu Limited’s Australian data centre portfolio
- Quadrant Private Equity enters exclusive talks to sell TSA Riley to Mace Group following a global sale process
- HiTech Group Australia Ltd ((HIT)) agrees to acquire Hudson Global Resources, the Australian business of Hudson Global Inc
- Frontier Energy Ltd ((FHE)) secures $280m in project debt
- Morse Micro prepares an ASX IPO targeting a valuation above $600m
- Coles Group Ltd ((COL)) ends takeover talks with TPG Capital over a potential acquisition of Greencross
- SkyCity Entertainment Group Ltd ((SKC)) completes unconditional NZ$74.5m property sale with proceeds to repay debt
- Perpetual Ltd ((PPT)) rejects Windflower’s revised $2.55bn takeover offer backed by EQT
- Andrew Forrest has acquired a 16.8% stake in EQ Resources ((EQR))
- South32 ((S32)) exceeded production guidance and is progressing the sale of its Alcoa-related ((AAI)) assets
- Nash Capital has acquired a 40% stake in electrical contracting business Prime Group for $20m
- Tracksuit has acquired Hall to strengthen its AI-powered brand visibility tracking capabilities
- Lug+Carrie has secured $18m in asset-backed financing to support its US expansion
- Point Wild is exploring an ASX listing at an implied valuation of around $5bn
- Wiluna Mining is targeting a $300m-$400m ASX initial public offering with plans to raise $150m-$200m
- Yanara has raised $245m from Mirova to fund its Australian renewable energy portfolio
- Franchise Equity Partners has acquired a majority stake in BravoFit to fund the expansion of Planet Fitness across Australia
- The Perich family has launched a $737m bid to take Noumi Limited ((NOU)) private and delist the company from the ASX
- Straight Bat has sold most of its stake in Kase Group and marked down the value of its remaining investment
- AMP Ltd ((AMP)) has appointed UBS to advise on potential sale discussions for its banking division
- Michael Cassel has repurchased a majority stake in his entertainment business from Silver Lake and is seeking new investors to support global expansion
- Ramsay Health Care ((RHC)) is selling non-core assets and preparing for the demerger of Ramsay Sante to improve capital returns
- AirTrunk is planning a Singapore IPO for a data centre vehicle to help fund further expansion
- SpaceX faces a major share unlock from August, with up to US$116bn of stock becoming eligible for sale
- Washington H Soul Pattinson ((SOL)) is exploring the sale of its Australian horticulture assets
- Frasers Group has extended its takeover offer for Accent Group ((AX1)) until September
- KMD Brands ((KMD)) is attracting takeover interest for its Rip Curl and Kathmandu brands
- Sendle has returned under new ownership after Andrew McKenna acquired the company’s brand assets following its collapse
- KKR-backed UPL has ended talks to acquire assets from Nufarm ((NUF))
- The Victorian Government is exploring the sale or monetisation of Melbourne Water, valued at around $18bn
- La Caisse has invested $330m in agricultural investment platform Go.Farm
- Macquarie Group ((MQG)) has secured a debt extension for Bingo Industries through to 2031
- Bain Capital plans to sell down a -$200m stake in Virgin Australia ((VGN))
- Monvia is proceeding with a $100m ASX IPO despite weak conditions for SaaS listings
For a calendar of earnings result releases and a summary of earnings results to date, refer to FNArena’s Corporate Results Monitor (https://www.fnarena.com/index.php/reporting_season/)
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