Fund Status:
Portfolio Val: $1,151,785
Performance: Portfolio +0.31% | Benchmark -0.02%
Cash: $95,467
Bought/Sold None
Overnight Markets
US markets struggled overnight. Both large (-0.33%) and small cap (-0.54% Russell 2000) indices were down. Energy (+2.10%) was the only outperforming sector as oil climbed, driven by geopolitical tensions in the middle east.
What caught our eye was a recent report from Bloomberg about the LPG landscape in India. India is a net importer of LPG, previously buying from the Gulf. Due to the war, India is filling the gap in two ways: 1) increasing their own production by reconfiguring refineries and 2) buying more LPG from the USA. The latter has now become a majority supplier to India. There also happened to be an agreement between the US and India for the latter to buy $3.5 billion of US LPG in exchange for lower tariffs. Diabolical.
Meanwhile, closer to home, Australian private credit funds are in a panic after the collapse of Bathla Group. Bathla owes about $3.3billion to non-bank lenders.
Australian Market
The ASX200 edged lower -0.10% as Wesfarmers (-3.0%) and Woolworths (-2.4%) went ex-dividend, creating a drag on Consumer Discretionary (-1.8%) and Staples (-1.4%). Broad market sentiment was further constrained by the 10-year Treasury yield surging to a 15-year high, following benchmark US yield rises. This triggered a rotation out of wealth platforms and tech names. However, resource names picked up the slack, driven by coking coal and elevated oil prices. Overseas, Anthropic is preparing for an IPO expected to match or exceed SpaceX’s US$86.2bn listing. This may potentially take liquidity out of global equity markets as there is only so much dry powder to go round.
Portfolio Commentary
The portfolio delivered a solid session, gaining +0.31% to outperform the benchmark (+0.02%). There was strong buying in JDO (+6.90%), Zip (+4.80%), and Monash IVF (+7.09%). MP1 also gained +3.45%. Due to headwinds from rising bond yields, a couple of names in financial services fell Netwealth (-3.90%) and GDG (-3.77%), alongside SKS (-5.73%).
Investment Activity
None
Disclaimer: This is a paper portfolio. Content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research.