Solar stocks shine amidst energy crisis gloom

US equities fell on Friday to cap their third straight weekly decline, after a solid August jobs report failed to ease fears that the Federal Reserve would keep aggressively hiking interest rates to fight inflation.

After rallying through the morning, the Dow Jones Industrial Average erased a 370-point gain and finished the session lower by 1.1 per cent. The S&P 500 fell roughly the same The Nasdaq Composite declined 1.3 per cent

All of the major averages were lower to end the week. The Dow fell 3 per cent and S&P lost 3.3 per cent , while the Nasdaq fell 4.2 per cent.

Highlights for next week include a Jerome Powell speech, ECB and RBA meetings, OPEC+ meeting, ISM services and a number of sell-side conferences.

Flow data indicated the biggest outflow from US equities in ten weeks. The average US-stock mutual fund or exchange-traded fund is down 17.3 per cent for the year to date, through August, according to Lipper data. That includes a 3.5 per cent average decline in August.

On the macro front, Credit agency Moody’s has cut its 12-month price outlook for key mining commodities, blaming the global economic slowdown and softening demand, especially from China and Europe where a recession is in the offing. Moody’s named essential commodities such gold, silver, steel, aluminium and copper in a major research note on Friday.

Stocks initially rallied on August nonfarm payrolls report that saw job growth slightly ahead of consensus.The report seemed to have checked the boxes for a market looking for some reprieve amid the renewed upward pressure on rates from the Fed's pivot pushback and raise-and-hold messaging.

However the market then went on the defensive after news of an extended Nord Stream pipeline shutdown. The Russian energy major Gazprom extended the shutdown of gas flows through to Germany on Friday evening, providing no timeframe for a reopening. The timing of the move will raise questions over whether Putin was responding to the impending imposition of a cap on Russian oil.

Looking at the S&P500 sectors, energy was strongest despite a weekly fall of 8 per cent for brent crude pricing last week. It seems the market is attracted to the record earnings announced from the sector recently. Within the sectors weaker thematics included social media, hydrogen, EV charger, online education and cannabis stocks.

On a brighter note, Solar energy is growing so quickly that global installations this year are on track to be ~3x greater than the capacity regulators expected to be added in 2040 when it made projections in 2017. The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is expected to be a game changer for the solar industry, with the at providing nearly $369 billion to bolster energy development. Analysts have been upgrading the sector post the passing of the legislation. Shares of First Solar for example jumped 28.6 per cent in August.

Currencies

One Australian dollar has slightly weakened compared to the US dollar on Friday, buying 67.86 US cents (Fri: 67.91 US cents), 59.19 Pence Sterling, 95.07 Yen and 68.34 Euro cents.

Commodities

Iron ore futures are pointing to a 1.4 per cent gain.

Gold bounced on Friday as the dollar retreated after US jobs data came mostly in line with expectations. Gold gained $13.30 or 0.8 per cent to US$1723 an ounce.

Silver was up $0.22 or 1.2 per cent to US$17.88 an ounce.

Copper added $0.70 or 0.2 per cent to US$341.35 a pound.

Oil added $0.26 or 0.3 per cent to US$86.87 a barrel.

Futures

The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.2 per cent fall.

Figures around the globe

Across the Atlantic, European markets closed higher. Paris added 2.2 per cent, Frankfurt jumped 3.3 per cent and London’s FTSE closed 1.9 per cent higher.

Asian markets closed mixed. Tokyo’s Nikkei closed flat, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.7 and China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.1 per cent higher.

On Friday, the Australian sharemarket lost 0.3 per cent to 6829.

Ex-dividends

There are 22 companies set to trade without the right to a dividend.

Adairs (ASX:ADH) is paying 10 cents fully franked
Aust Finance Group (ASX:AFG) is paying 9.6 cents fully franked
Altium (ASX:ALU) is paying 26 cents fully franked
Bendigo and Adelaide (ASX:BEN) is paying 26.5 cents fully franked
Corporate Travel Management (ASX:CTD) is paying 5 cents unfranked
Ellerston Asian Investments (ASX:EAI) is paying 3 cents fully franked
Excelsior Capital (ASX:ECL) is paying 3 cents fully franked
Fortescue Metals Group (ASX:FMG) is paying 121 cents fully franked
Gold Road Resources (ASX:GOR) is paying 1 cents fully franked
Iluka Resources (ASX:ILU) is paying 25 cents fully franked
Kina Securities (ASX:KSL) is paying 3.485 cents unfranked
Mader Group (ASX:MAD) is paying 2 cents fully franked
McPherson's (ASX:MCP) is paying 2 cents fully franked
Morphic Ethical Equities Fund (ASX:MEC) is paying 1.5 cents fully franked
NIB Holdings (ASX:NHF) is paying 11 cents fully franked
Orora (ASX:ORA) is paying 8.5 cents unfranked
QANTM Intellectual Property (ASX:QIP) is paying 3.5 cents fully franked
Qualitas Real Estate Income Fund (ASX:QRI) is paying 0.8701 cents unfranked
Ramsay Health Care (ASX:RHC) is paying 48.5 cents fully franked
Summerset Group Holdings (ASX:SNZ) is paying 8.1768 cents unfranked
Shaver Shop Group (ASX:SSG) is paying 5.5 cents fully franked
Yancoal Aust (ASX:YAL) is paying 52.71 cents unfranked