If anyone could provide a definitive answer on whether inflation has peaked, we’d have a much clearer view of how ASX shares might perform in 2023.

But of course, there’s a divergence of views. This follows the release of the first monthly inflation report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) yesterday. (Previously it only did quarterly reports.)

The report shows annual inflation tracking at 6.9% for the 12 months to the end of October. That’s the highest level of inflation in two decades, but it’s also lower than the September quarter figure of 7.3%.

That’s why people are talking about whether inflation has peaked today.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has had a longstanding inflation rate comfort zone of 2% to 3%. It has raised interest rates aggressively this year — by 2.75% — to try and quell the upwards spiral.

If it raises rates again next week by another 0.25%, it will be the highest annual increase since the introduction of cash rate targeting more than three decades ago.

What has inflation done to ASX 200 shares in 2022?

Inflation has been a killer for ASX shares and United States equities in 2022.

The biggest impact occurred in the first half of the year. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) lost 15% in value between the first trading day of 2022 and the mid-June bottom. The S&P 500 in the US lost 21%.

Inflation has delivered two big blows to ASX shares and global equities.

Firstly, it’s raised the costs of doing business for pretty much every company, thus impacting earnings.

Some companies have resilience in this climate. They are typically ‘price makers’, like supermarkets, which can offset rising costs by raising prices because customers will still buy their essential goods.

Some companies have unique resilience, like toll operator Transurban Group (ASX: TCL). Most of its toll charges are linked to inflation so they can raise prices by the same amount as inflation.

The second major blow from rapidly rising inflation is rapidly rising interest rates. This means companies have to pay more for their debt and customers tighten their purse strings. None of that is good for business.

Is inflation there yet?

Given all that, it’s understandable that we investors would love to know when inflation is going to peak. Like a grumpy, sooky kid in the back seat of a car, we’re all screaming, ‘Are we there, yet’?

Well, after yesterday’s new inflation numbers, many experts have weighed in on the issue.

Let’s canvas their views.

What does the RBA think?

Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe delivered the board’s latest inflation predictions in his monetary policy decision on 1 November.

Lowe said:

A further increase in inflation is expected over the months ahead, with inflation now forecast to peak at around 8 per cent later this year.

Inflation is then expected to decline next year due to the ongoing resolution of global supply-side problems, recent declines in some commodity prices and slower growth in demand.

The Bank’s central forecast is for CPI inflation to be around 4¾ per cent over 2023 and a little above 3 per cent over 2024.

We’ll get a fresh analysis from the RBA after next week’s cash rate decision on Tuesday.

What do the economic analysts think?

The first thing to point out is some experts don’t think the new ABS monthly data is that reliable.

The Reserve Bank says monthly data has previously been a good indicator of market turns. Though, AMP Capital senior economist Diana Mousina isn’t convinced.

According to reporting in The Australian, Mousina says the new monthly data is “probably underestimating inflation in October”:

The monthly October release measures 63 per cent of the CPI basket with excluded areas including restaurant meals and takeaway foods, new dwelling purchase costs for apartments and electricity and gas prices.

The big lift in prices for electricity and gas recently in Australia means that the monthly CPI index is probably underestimating inflation in October.

The ‘basket’ Mousina is referring to is there is the basket of goods used to calculate inflation movements.

Putting that issue aside, let’s see how these economic analysts have interpreted the numbers.

HSBC Australia chief economist, Paul Bloxham reckons inflation is “clearly still too high” but has “passed its peak”.

Bloxham said:

We expect the RBA to hike by 25bp to 3.10 per cent in December, but [the] data supports our view that the RBA may choose to pause not long after that.

NAB experts predict inflation will peak in Q4 2022. But they expect the RBA to up rates by 0.25% in December, February, and March (there is no meeting in January).

CBA experts have the same timeline prediction for an inflation peak — Q4 2022. But CBA economist, Stephen Wu, reckons the uncertain outlook for energy prices could change that timeline.

ANZ economists Catherine Birch and Felicity Emmett reckon quarterly inflation will “accelerate in Q4”. This would be due to flooding events and other factors.

They said in a note to clients:

… we’ll be keeping an eye on the data to see whether cost pass-through is easing more quickly than we have factored or if the easing in global supply chain issues is showing up in the Australian data a bit earlier than we had assumed.

Citi Australia chief economist, Josh Williamson thinks the risk of higher inflation and wages remains.

He predicts a terminal cash rate of 3.35%. He thinks the RBA will start cutting rates by 2Q FY24 due to slowing economic growth and rising unemployment.

According to reporting in the Australian Financial Review (AFR), Russel Chesler, head of investments and capital markets at VanEck, reckons inflation will peak at 8% in Q4 2022.

He expects the RBA to raise rates a few more times in 2023 because it will take time for migrants to fill labour gaps.

Chesler added:

Coming out of the pandemic, Australian households are cashed-up, and although retail sales fell by 0.2% in October they are still up 12.5% for the last year.

Higher mortgage repayments have not deterred shoppers yet. That is helping to buoy economic activity and to fuel inflation…

Goldman Sachs is tipping a much higher terminal cash rate of 4.1% by May 2023, according to the AFR.

Goldman Sachs chief economist Andrew Boak said:

The 2023 challenge for Australia is to return inflation to an acceptable level without breaking the housing market and precipitating a recession.

The post So, has inflation peaked or not? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Thursday
• Investing in ASX shares? Here’s what the experts expect for RBA rate hikes in 2023
• Thank you Mr Powell! 7 ASX 200 shares cracking new 52-week highs on Thursday
• Is this the start of an ASX 200 Santa rally?
• The A2 Milk share price just hit a 52-week high. What’s going on?

Citigroup is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has positions in Australia And New Zealand Banking Group and Commonwealth Bank Of Australia. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Hsbc Plc. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on track to record a strong gain. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is up 0.85% to 7,346.5 points.

Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are racing higher:

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

The Appen share price is up 13% to $3.02. A number of beaten down ASX tech shares are charging notably higher today. This follows a strong night of trade for tech stocks on Wall Street after the US Federal Reserve hinted that supersized interest rate hikes could now be a thing of the past.

Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN)

The Evolution Mining share price is up 6.5% to $2.86. Investors have been piling back into the gold miners on Thursday thanks to the aforementioned comments out of the US Federal Reserve. Investors appears to believe that interest rates won’t rise as much as previously feared, which would bode well for the gold price. The S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold index is up 4.1% this afternoon.

Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO)

The Rio Tinto share price is up almost 3.5% to $113.37. This follows the release of a strategy update from the mining giant this morning. That update also came with guidance for FY 2023, which includes Pilbara iron ore shipments (100% basis) of 320Mt to 335Mt. This is flat on the original guidance it provided for FY 2022. Looking further ahead, management believes the energy transition could add as much as 25% in new demand above traditional sources on a copper equivalent basis by 2035.

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

The Xero share price is up 6% to $74.97. This appears to have been driven by a strong session for tech shares and the release of a bullish broker note out of Citi. In respect to the latter, the broker has retained its buy rating and $97.90 price target on the cloud accounting platform provider’s shares.

The post Why Appen, Evolution Mining, Rio Tinto, and Xero shares are racing higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Xero share price hurtles higher on bullish broker note
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• Stock market correction: A once-in-a-lifetime chance to get rich?
• Why are ASX tech shares having such a cracking run on Thursday?
• Rio Tinto share price lifts despite lukewarm iron ore outlook

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Xero. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Appen and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has kicked off on a very pleasing run so far this Thursday, powering ahead on top of yesterday’s gains. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has risen by a healthy 0.77%, putting the index at around 7,340 points. Today’s performance has lifted the share market to a new seven-month high.

But let’s delve deeper into this pleasing performance by taking a look at the shares currently topping the ASX 200’s share trading volume charts, according to investing.com.

The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Thursday

Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO)

First up this Thursday is the ASX 200 lithium share Core Lithium. So far today, a chunky 17.72 million Core shares have made their way across the ASX boards. There haven’t been any new announcements or news from the company itself.

So it’s probable that the volatility we’ve seen with this company’s shares today is the culprit behind this high volume. Core started out the day on a strong foot, rising as high as $1.40 a share soon after market open. But investors have since gotten cold feet and sent Core Lithium lower. It’s currently going for $1.34 a share, down by 0.6%.

South32 Ltd (ASX: S32)

Our next ASX 200 share worth checking out is the mining giant South32. This Thursday has had a meaningful 25.48 million South32 shares bought and sold thus far. With no news out from this company either, it seems we once again have a share price movement to thank for this volume we see.

And what a share price movement. South32 has rocketed by an impressive 6.84% so far this session to $4.29 a share. Higher commodity prices and a spectacular night of trading over in the US seem to be behind this enthusiasm.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

Our third and most-traded ASX 200 share so far today is none other than the lithium giant Pilbara Minerals. This Thursday has had a rather massive 31 million Pilbara shares swap hands as it currently stands. It looks like another share price gain is to thank for this volume.

Pilbara is joining in on the ASX 200 resources party today, albeit not quite as enthusiastically as South32. At this point of today’s session, Pilbara has gained a pleasing 2.25% to $4.76 a share, after dipping into red territory for a brief moment this morning. This gain and the preceding volatility is probably what is to thank for Pilbara topping today’s volume charts.

The post Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Thursday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Investing in ASX shares? Here’s what the experts expect for RBA rate hikes in 2023
• Thank you Mr Powell! 7 ASX 200 shares cracking new 52-week highs on Thursday
• Can you guess which 3 ASX 200 lithium shares led the charge in November?
• Is this the start of an ASX 200 Santa rally?
• The A2 Milk share price just hit a 52-week high. What’s going on?

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price had a good run in November.

The ASX biotech share opened at $280.68 on 1 November and closed at the end of the month at $300.11, a 6.92% gain.

The company’s shares are currently trading lower at $298.35 each, down 0.59% on the day.

CSL pulled ahead of the S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index (ASX: XHJ) in November, which gained 5.97% over the month.

It also beat the broader market, as the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) grew 6.13% over the same period.

So let’s go over the highlights of the month for CSL to figure out why it might have outperformed its peers.

What happened to the CSL share price in November?

Despite the gains by the CSL share price, it was a quiet month in terms of news from the company.

On 2 November, the company announced it had entered into a collaboration and licensing agreement with Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: ARCT).

In a nutshell, the collaboration will leverage CSL’s expertise in mRNA drug product development and manufacturing and Arcturus’s capabilities in the large-scale delivery of clinical supplies. This combination aims to enable CSL to deliver mRNA vaccines to the market at an accelerated rate and with greater efficiency.

The vaccines will be used to treat diseases such as the flu, COVID-19, and others.

CSL gives R&D investor presentation

A day after CSL announced its agreement with Arcturus, CSL published an investor presentation covering its research and development pipeline.

The company underlined its commitment to further developing its mRNA vaccines and also said it is working towards treatments for other diseases. These include haemophilia B, a rare inherited disorder that prevents the body from forming certain proteins involved in blood clotting.

Its proposed gene therapy, which is the first of its kind, is currently being reviewed by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). If approved, the therapy could provide a safe and effective treatment option for patients with haemophilia B.

Experts bullish on CSL share price

After these updates were posted, CSL enjoyed positive coverage from experts. The main catalyst was its R&D report which could have helped to give the CSL share price some buoyancy throughout the month.

Morgans reviewed CSL’s R&D presentation and slapped the company with a $312.20 price target, giving it a possible upside of 4.6%. Meanwhile, Citi was even more optimistic, giving the share a target of $340, or almost 14% upside.

Goldman Sachs was the least optimistic of the three, giving CSL shares a price target of $291 apiece. This means it has a potential downside of 2.5% at the time of writing.

Additionally, at the end of the month, Switzer Financial Group director Paul Rickard said he believed CSL has the momentum to bust through the $300 price level in the foreseeable future. He also praised CSL’s Vifor acquisition, which was completed in August.

The post Why did the CSL share price leap 7% in November? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• ‘Buy it for 5 years’: Jun Bei Liu’s 3 best ASX shares for 2023
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• CSL share price ‘ticks all the defensive boxes’: fundie
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Citigroup is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Motley Fool contributor Matthew Farley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Csl. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The share price of the listed investment company (LIC) Australian Foundation Investment Co Ltd (ASX: AFI) (AFIC) climbed by more than 5% in November 2022.

Its rise of 5.4% compares to a 6.1% rise for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). So, this means that the LIC underperformed the overall ASX share market.

However, with how LICs work, its portfolio value didn’t necessarily underperform the index.

The share price of a LIC can move independently of its underlying portfolio, which is different to how an exchange-traded fund (ETF) acts – the ETF closely tracks the underlying net asset value (NAV) of the assets it owns.

It’s possible for a LIC’s share price to be trading at, or move to, a premium compared to the underlying value of the ASX share. But, LICs can also trade at a discount to the net tangible assets (NTA) per share.

AFIC may not release its monthly NTA update for November 2022 until tomorrow or even next week, so investors won’t be able to see how the portfolio performed. But, investors can make an educated guess because of the movement of its biggest holdings.

Performance of AFIC’s positions

The old LIC owns a portfolio of dozens of shares.

But, we can look at the biggest positions from October and see how well they did.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price – 9.9% of the portfolio at 31 October – went up 3% over the month of November.

CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) shares – 7.9% of the portfolio – increased by 7% last month.

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) shares – 7.2% of the portfolio – went up by 21.8%.

Transurban Group (ASX: TCL) shares – 4.5% of the portfolio – rose by 7.8%.

Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) shares – 4.5% of the portfolio – climbed by 5.4%.

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) shares – 4.5% of the portfolio – went down by 1.4%.

While it wasn’t a strong month for domestic ASX bank shares, other industries seemed to go well.

BHP was a real standout for the AFI portfolio, while CSL and Transurban also did well.

There is increasing talk that China could decide to significantly ease its COVID rules and restrictions, which are currently putting a handbrake on the country’s growth ambitions. This seemingly hurt the iron ore price, which is a key factor in generating profit for BHP because of its mammoth operations in Australia.

Investors will also be hoping that interest rate increases by central banks may soon come to an end, or at least slow down. This could imply a lower peak interest rate, or even mean interest rates start being reduced and normalised. This could be good news for the share prices of names like CSL and Macquarie, as well as the AFIC share price.

Jerome Powell indicates interest rate increases could slow down

Powell is the boss of the US Federal Reserve.

CNBC quoted Powell talking about how the size of the increases could decline because of how it takes time for policy changes to work their way through the system, though rates will stay high:

Despite some promising developments, we have a long way to go in restoring price stability.

Thus, it makes sense to moderate the pace of our rate increases as we approach the level of restraint that will be sufficient to bring inflation down. The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting.

It is likely that restoring price stability will require holding policy at a restrictive level for some time. History cautions strongly against prematurely loosening policy. We will stay the course until the job is done.

It will be interesting to see how this impacts the AFIC share price and the RBA’s thinking in the coming months.

The post Why did the AFIC share price have such a strong run in November? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• How big is the AFIC dividend yield right now?

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Csl. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Macquarie Group and Westpac Banking. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on form again and on course to record a solid gain. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.75% to 7,337.6 points.

Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here’s why they are falling:

CogState Limited (ASX: CGS)

The CogState share price is down 5.5% to $1.84. Investors appear to have been selling this neuroscience technology company’s shares following the release of results from an Alzheimer’s trial. Although the trial delivered very impressive results, there are concerns about potential side effects from the treatment. Excitement around the trial sent the neuroscience technology company’s shares rocketing higher a couple of months ago.

Downer EDI Ltd (ASX: DOW)

The Downer share price is down 3% to $5.00. This morning this integrated services provider announced the exit of its CEO Grant Fenn. Mr Fenn will be replaced by the company’s current COO, Peter Tompkins, when he retires in February.

Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW)

The Temple & Webster share price is down 2.5% to $5.14. This appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Macquarie this morning. Although the market responded very positively to the online furniture retailer’s trading update yesterday, Credit Suisse wasn’t impressed. In response, the broker retained its neutral rating but cut its price target to $5.03. It has also slashed its earnings estimates following the update.

Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS)

The Woodside share price is down 2% to $36.48. This follows the release of the energy producer’s investor briefing this morning. Woodside advised that it expects to grow its production by a compound annual growth rate of 4% between 2023 and 2027. This will be underpinned by its Sangomar oil development and Scarborough gas start-up. Investors appear to have been expecting stronger production growth.

The post Why CogState, Downer, Temple & Webster, and Woodside shares are dropping appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Woodside share price falls as the ASX 200 giant targets 4% annual growth
• Why Ainsworth, Life360, Temple & Webster, and Whitehaven Coal are charging higher
• The Woodside share price has dropped for 5 days in a row. What’s going on?
• Temple & Webster share price rockets 15% on ‘good sign’
• Is OPEC about to give ASX 200 energy shares a boost?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Cogstate and Temple & Webster Group. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Cogstate. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Temple & Webster Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA) has been a fairly disappointing performer in 2022 thus far. Year to date, this ASX exchange-traded fund (ETF) has lost a painful 26.22% of its value. It has fallen from around $9.40 a unit at the start of the year to the $6.95 we see today.

So it might come as something of a surprise to learn that this fund was in the top three best-performing ASX ETFs of November. Yep, over the month just passed, the BetaShares Asia Tigers ETF rose from $5.68 to the $6.74 price it closed at yesterday. That’s a gain worth an impressive 18.66%.

As it happens, all three of the ASX ‘s highest-performing ETFs last month had large positions in the Chinese markets.

In addition to the BetaShares Asia Tigers ETF, the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (ASX: IZZ) and the iShares Asia 50 ETF (ASX: IAA) both had stellar months too.

This optimism could reflect anticipation that China could, at last, begin to relinquish its long-held and ultra-strict ‘zero-COVID’ policies that the country has stuck to since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

China has been facing rolling protests in recent weeks over its lockdown-happy policies. Those are policies that have been abandoned in most other countries of the world.

So if China does indeed start to open up, is the BetaShares Asia Tigers ETF a good way to play this reopening?

Is the BetaShares Asia Tigers ETF a bet on a reopened China?

Well, let’s look at the fund’s underlying portfolio to gauge this.

So the BetaShares Asia Tigers ETF doesn’t just invest in China and Chinese companies. It is exposed to other countries like Taiwan, South Korea and India as well.

Saying that, almost half of this ETF’s portfolio is weighted towards Chinese and Hong-Kong listed shares. Its third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth largest shares are all Chinese. They include names like Alibaba, Tencent Holdings, Pinduoduo and JD.com.

So while the BetaSahres Asia Tigers ETF is not a China pure-play, it is certainly highly exposed to the Chinese markets. The past month has proven that it is a valid investment for anyone looking to potentially benefit from a Chinese reopening. Although perhaps not quite as China-exposed as the iShares China Large-Cap ETF.

But remember, China has to officially reopen first. That is certainly not a given at this point, whatever the markets are hoping for.

The post Is the BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASIA) an ASX buy for China’s reopening? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Want to know what the 3 top performing ASX ETFs in November have been?
• 3 quality ETFs for ASX investors to buy this month

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended JD.com and Tencent. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Betashares Capital – Asia Technology Tigers Etf and JD.com. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price has started the month strongly.

In afternoon trade, the cloud accounting platform provider’s shares are up 5% to $74.31.

Why is the Xero share price charging higher?

As well as getting a lift from a strong showing in the tech sector on Thursday, the Xero share price has received a boost from a bullish broker note.

According to a note out of Citi, its analysts have retained their buy rating and $97.90 price target on the company’s shares.

Based on the current Xero share price, this implies potential upside of almost 32% for investors over the next 12 months.

What did the broker say?

Citi notes that Xero’s rival Intuit (the owner of QuickBooks) has released a quarterly update and highlights that “Intuit expects digitisation to be a bigger driver than macro for online accounting.”

It also points out that Intuit’s performance in Australia has been weak, which bodes well for Xero. It commented:

The interesting takeaway from Intuit’s 1Q23 result was the divergence in regional performance, with Intuit calling out strength in North America and weakness in Australia whereas Xero pointed to macro weakness in North America and strength in ANZ in its recent result. This likely reflects the relative strength of the players. Intuit calling out macro weakness in UK does support Xero’s view that UK was being impacted by macro in the Sep half. While this could raise concerns on Xero’s guidance for subs growth to pick in up in 2H in UK, we see Making Tax Digital deadlines as a tailwind.

Overall, we see positive read-throughs for Xero given Intuit noted that digitisation rather than macro is a key driver of Quickbooks’ performance, while pricing continues to be rational. With subs growth set to improve and margins set to benefit from slowing headcount growth, we reiterate our Buy call.

The post Xero share price hurtles higher on bullish broker note appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Xero. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Warrego Energy Ltd (ASX: WGO) share price has been on fire over the past month. The company’s valuation has been boosted significantly thanks to a flurry of takeover interest.

Today, shares in the natural gas explorer are holding near their 52-week high as Warrego releases its response to the latest offer to come its way.

At present, the Warrego Energy share price is sitting at 25.5 cents apiece — representing a monumental increase of 82% when compared to a month ago. Meanwhile, the bigger end of the energy town is floundering in an otherwise green day of trade.

So, what offers do Warrego shareholders have to pick from now?

Energy giants go to war for Warrego

This morning Warrego Energy released an announcement addressing the latest takeover offer flung its way.

The 23 cents per share bid from Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting is the third entrant into the race. According to the release, the offer is being considered by the Warrego board and an update will be made in “due course”.

Only yesterday, reports of Hancock Prospecting achieving its second-largest profit result in its history were doing the rounds. The mining and agriculture behemoth was said to have recorded a staggering $5.8 billion net profit. However, this result is approximately 20% below its previous year, being dragged down by weaker iron ore prices.

If Hancock Prospecting were valued on the same price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio as fellow iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG), the private company would be worth a gargantuan $38 billion.

Notably, the bid from Hancock beats out the next best proposal by 3 cents a share. The former highest bidder was fellow ASX energy name, Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT). Prior to Beach, Strike Energy Ltd (ASX: STX) kicked off the action with a proposal that valued the Warrego Energy share price at 18.6 cents.

According to Credit Suisse analyst Saul Kavonic there’s a possibility that shareholders could see former frontrunners take another stab at winning Warrego. Furthermore, Kavonic pointed out the likelihood of even more would-be acquirers that have yet to throw in an offer.

Where has the Warrego Energy share price come from?

Like most ASX energy shares, this year has been exceptionally kind to the Warrego Energy share price. Shares in the company have now exploded by 112% since the start of 2022 after the recent rally.

Heightened interest could be gravitating toward natural gas explorers and producers amid the burgeoning energy demand.

According to Mckinsey, gas will be the strongest-growing fossil fuel between 2020 and 2035. Enticing the value proposition, the global consulting firm forecasts gas to be the only fossil fuel to grow past 2030.

Based on the current Warrego Energy share price, the company now holds a market capitalisation of $311 million.

The post Warrego Energy share price rockets 80% in a month amid clash of the takeover titans appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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ASX shares are having a top day of gains so far this Thursday. At present, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has risen by a healthy 0.85% all the way up to just under 7,350 points. But those gains look rather small in comparison to what’s happening with the BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ).

This index-tracking exchange-traded fund (ETF) is rocketing in value today. BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF units are currently enjoying a 2.78% surge in value, lifting the fund up to $27.38 per unit.

So what’s behind these pleasing rises this Thursday?

Why is the BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF surging in value?

Well, the BetaShares NASDAQ ETF is an index fund that tracks the NASDAQ-100 (NASDAQ: NDX) over in the United States. The NASDAQ 100 is an index that tracks the 100 largest shares on the NASDAQ stock exchange, excluding certain financial companies.

The NASDAQ is well known for being the home of most of the top tech shares on the US markets. Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX), Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) all call the NASDAQ home. As you can tell by their ticker codes.

So as goes the performance of the NASDAQ 100 Index, so goes the BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF.

And lo and behold, the NASDAQ 100 had a stellar night last night in US trading. The iIndex finished the session up a rather extraordinary 4.58% to back over 12,000 points.

That’s a two-and-a-half-month high. These gains were spurred by the likes of Apple rising close to 5%, Alphabet soaring more than 6%, and Tesla rocketing an incredible 7.67%.

So the BetaShares NASDAQ ETF was always going to have a cracking day. Why isn’t it rising by 4.58% like its index, though?

Well, the BetaShares NASDAQ ETF houses assets priced in US dollars. But it is quoted in Australian dollars. Thus, currency movements affect its value, alongside the value of its underlying shares.

And while the US markets rocketed overnight, so too did the Australian dollar. A higher Aussie dollar means that US shares become less valuable in Australian dollar terms. So hence the more muted gains we have seen with the ETF.

Nevertheless, there’s no doubt investors are very happy with this ETF today.

The post Why is the BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF (NDQ) having such a stellar run today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF, Microsoft, Netflix, and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, and Netflix. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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