The iron ore spot price continues to go from strength to strength, topping US$100 per tonne for the first time this year. China’s iron ore futures market opened more than 6% higher on Monday after top miner Vale SA was ordered to shut operations at a site that accounts for approximately 10% of its output.

Could supply woes make the Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO), Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) and BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share prices a buy?

Vale SA to close multiple sites 

The Australian Financial Review (AFR) reports that a Brazilian labor court judge ordered Vale SA to close multiple sites after a COVID-19 outbreak among workers.

Investors may remember Vale’s tailings dam collapse in late January 2019. This tragic incident killed 237, left 33 missing and nearly 1,000 displaced. The closure of this mine site resulted in significant supply woes for the global iron ore market. This supply imbalance caused the iron ore spot price to soar from ~US$70 to more than US$120 per tonne in July 2019. This also saw the Rio Tinto, Fortescue and BHP share prices hit record highs or price levels not seen since the GFC.  

Australia is the largest iron ore producing country in the world and is also fortunate enough to have largely tackled the spread of the coronavirus. However, other producers that play a vital role in the iron ore supply chain such as Brazil, Russia and India are still at various stages of the curve and ranked 2nd, 4th and 5th, respectively, for active cases globally. This is likely to see an impact on various parts of their economies, including mining. 

Aussie miners to benefit 

The Rio Tinto, Fortescue and BHP share prices are likely to continue to push higher following strong spot prices. Elevated iron ore prices will continue to support the market-leading dividends paid by Aussie miners. At the time of writing, Rio Tinto currently pays a dividend yield of 5.77%, BHP pays 5.87% and Fortescue pays 6.88%.

From a risk/reward perspective, it may be challenging for investors to buy Fortescue at its current record all-time high prices. Alternatively, I believe it is feasible for the Rio Tinto and BHP share prices to revisit their previous highs. This can be further supported by the swift recovery of other commodities such as copper, coal and oil that make up a small proportion of the ASX 200 miners’ materials portfolios.

More reading

• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX bulls crash through 6,000 points
• 3 high quality ASX dividend shares you can buy today
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• 2 strong ASX dividend shares to bolster your income
• Want high-paying dividends? Try Wesfarmers shares and these 2 other ASX options

Motley Fool contributor Lina Lim has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. 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 Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN) share price is charging higher today after the small-cap ASX tech share announced a joint development agreement with a tier 1 automotive supplier.

About Brainchip

Brainchip produces a neuromorphic processor that brings artificial intelligence to the edge in a way it believes is beyond the capabilities of other products. 

By mimicking brain processing, BrainChip has been able to pioneer a spiking neural network called Akida, which is both scalable and flexible to address the requirements in edge devices. Simply put, an edge device is any piece of hardware that controls data flow at the boundary between two networks, such as a router or a smartphone. 

Akida has been designed to provide a complete ultra-low power and fast AI Edge Network for vision, audio, olfactory and smart transducer applications. The reduction in system latency provides faster response and a more power-efficient system that can reduce the large carbon footprint of data centres.

Why is the Brainchip share price spiking?

This morning, the company announced it has signed a joint development agreement with Valeo Corporation that utilises Brainchip’s Akida neuromorphic System-on-Chip (SoC).

Valeo Corporation is a tier 1 European automotive supplier of sensors and systems for autonomous vehicles (AV) and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).

The agreement will see the two companies collaborate on the development of neural network processing solutions for AV and ADAS.

Brainchip believes the validation of its Akida device by a tier 1 supplier of this nature is a significant development.

In AV and ADAS applications, real-time processing of data is critical for the safety and reliability of autonomous systems. Suppliers and manufacturers in the automotive industry have reportedly recognised that the Akida SoC is ideally suited to process data at the “Edge” for their advanced system solutions.

According to Brainchip, by combining the Akida neural network processor with sensors, the resulting system can achieve ultra-low power, minimum latency, maximum reliability, and incremental learning.

“The Akida neural processor’s game-changing high performance and ultra-low power consumption, enables smart sensor integration by solving power and footprint challenges for a variety of sensor technologies,” the announcement read. 

Brainchip was a little light on details but stated the agreement provides for specific performance milestones and payments that are expected to cover the company’s expenses. The term of the agreement is defined by the achievement of performance milestones and the availability of the Akida device.

At the time of writing, the Brainchip share price has surged 42.04% higher to 12.5 cents per share. This takes the company’s current market capitalisation to around $183 million.

More reading

• CSL share price drops lower despite announcing a new acquisition
• Are the Rio Tinto, Fortescue and BHP share prices a buy right now?
• The ANZ share price has soared 37% in 2 weeks. Here’s why.
• Will ASX 200 shares hit a record high in June?
• ASX 200 jumps 2.5%: Big four banks surge higher, CSL announces an acquisition

Motley Fool contributor Cathryn Goh has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. 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 Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ASX: ANZ) share price has risen over 37% in the period since close of trading on Friday 22 May. This is the largest rise of all the four major banks. The larger National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) follows closely behind with a rise of just over 33% for the same period. 

Why are bank shares rising?

Across the world, it’s starting to look like the economic fallout from COVID-19 could be less significant than originally anticipated. This is particularly the case in Australia. On 26 May, UBS analyst Jonathan Mott, a known market bear, raised his expectations of the banking sector. Jonathan pointed out the current underperformance of bank shares given the better than expected outlook. 

Many economic factors point to a recovery in bank performance. Not least of which was the $60 billion saving in JobKeeper due largely to clerical errors. An additional $10.6 billion in household spending power after early superannuation withdrawals and improvements in card and retail data are also contributing to optimism surrounding the sector. 

It remains to be seen what will happen in September when the government assistance comes to an end. Still, the share prices of all major banks have all been relatively slow to rise since the March low point. 

On 27 May, National Australia Bank announced it was increasing its capital raising to $4.25 billion, including an additional $1.25 billion for retail investors. This announcement appeared to carry the NAB share price higher along with the other major banks. 

Tier 1 capital fueling the ANZ share price rise

On 2 June, ANZ announced it had sold its New Zealand business UDC Finance for 1.2x tangible asset value. This will provide an additional ~$439 million of Tier 1 capital, or available cash from retained earnings, in this case. This saw the ANZ share price rise even further. 

In the ANZ chairman’s report on 28 May, we learned that statutory profit after tax was down 51% for the first half of 2020. Accordingly, the board agreed to defer the decision on dividend payments. While this does not close the door on a dividend payment, it definitely reduces the certainty around whether it will eventuate. The chairman, David Gonski, acknowledged the value shareholders place on the regular payment of bank dividends and promised further information in August. 

Foolish takeaway

It appears that the bank share prices are starting to level up to pre-pandemic levels. However, the ANZ share price is still down 14.9% year to date. Based on its current price of $20.97 at the time of writing, it would still require an increase of nearly 30% to reach the levels we saw in February prior to the crash. I’m not sure how long it will take, but I am confident the ANZ share price will return to these former levels. 

Furthermore, ANZ’s twelve month trailing dividend yield is 8.09%. This is a very healthy dividend payout. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen when or even if the banks will recommence dividend payouts at or near pre-pandemic levels. Though, I believe this is likely. 

In my view, it is the size and stability of the dividend payment that attracts fund managers and retail investors. 

More reading

• ASX 200 jumps 2.5%: Big four banks surge higher, CSL announces an acquisition
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX bulls crash through 6,000 points
• ‘Westpac share price undervalued’, says analyst
• Is the Macquarie share price the best ASX bank to buy?
• Top brokers name 3 ASX 200 shares to buy next week

Motley Fool contributor Daryl Mather has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. 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 200 shares soared higher last week as the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) continued its strong rebound.

It was a similar story overseas with the S&P 500 Index closing the week at 3,194 points – just 5.7% off its all-time high.

If coronavirus restrictions continue to ease and the economy hums back to life, could we see a new record high in June?

Will ASX 200 shares hit new record highs in June?

There have been a number of Aussie shares climbing higher in the last couple of months. The recent bear market seems like a distant memory as companies like Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) have roared back to life.

ASX bank shares have been another clear winner with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price surging 32% higher since 23 March.

Australia has so far beaten many of its own ‘best case’ scenarios regarding the pandemic. That means we’re seeing businesses re-open, Aussie workers regain employment and the economic burden on the Federal Government start to ease.

Of course, there’s still a lot of work to do. I think there is more volatility for ASX 200 shares to come in the next few months but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good time to buy.

There’s a lot of cheap money flying around in the economy right now. Central banks have lowered interest rates and pumped money into the global economy.

CommBank and Afterpay haven’t been the only ones to cash in on the recent run. 

The A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) share price closed at $17.62 per share on Friday. I think the ASX 200 dairy share could charge towards its record high of $19.23 per share by the end of June.

Supermarket sales are strong and international sales could pick up again in the coming weeks. 

Foolish takeaway

There are a number of ASX 200 shares that are pushing higher in June. If the economy continues to pick up then we could see record highs before the end of the month.

More reading

• ASX 200 jumps 2.5%: Big four banks surge higher, CSL announces an acquisition
• 2 ASX 200 biotech shares to consider buying today
• 3 ASX 200 shares to watch this week
• Is the Webjet share price a cheap buy today?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX bulls crash through 6,000 points

Ken Hall has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of A2 Milk. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. 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 returned from the long weekend in fantastic form. At lunch the benchmark index is up 2.5% to 6,146.6 points.

Here’s what is happening on the market today:

Big four banks surge higher.

The big four banks have been very strong performers on Tuesday and are helping to drive the ASX 200 index notably higher. At lunch all four banks are up no less than 5%. The best performer in the group has been the Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ) share price with an impressive gain of 6%.

CSL acquisition.

The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price is trading lower today despite announcing a new acquisition. According to the release, the biotherapeutics company has agreed to exercise its right to acquire Vitaeris. It is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the phase 3 development of a treatment for rejection in solid organ kidney transplant patients.

G8 Education rockets higher despite childcare changes.

The G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM) share price is rocketing higher on Tuesday. This is even after the Federal Government revealed plans to end its free childcare scheme and stop JobKeeper payments to childcare workers in July. This morning G8 Education revealed that it won’t be impacted negatively because of the way the government is structuring other support packages. Management notes that these support packages will put it in no worse a position relative to the prior support measures. This is even if occupancy levels were to deteriorate.

Best and worst performers.

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Tuesday has been the Credit Corp Group Limited (ASX: CCP) share price with a 15% gain. Investors may believe the debt collector’s shares were oversold during the pandemic. The worst performer has been the Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR) share price with a 6.5% decline. This follows a pullback in the gold price over the last couple of trading days.

More reading

• CSL share price drops lower despite announcing a new acquisition
• The ANZ share price has soared 37% in 2 weeks. Here’s why.
• Will ASX 200 shares hit a record high in June?
• Why Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, BWP, G8 Education, & Westpac are zooming higher
• Why CSL, Elders, Evolution, & Xero shares are dropping lower

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. 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 late morning trade the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record a very strong gain. At the time of writing the benchmark index is up 2.7% to 6,158.9 points.

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

The Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX: BEN) share price has jumped 8% to $7.91. Investors have been buying the regional bank’s shares thanks to improving investor sentiment and a positive broker note. In respect to the latter, this morning Ord Minnett upgraded Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s shares to an accumulate rating with an improved price target of $8.10.

The BWP Trust (ASX: BWP) share price is up 3% to $3.88. This gain also appears to have been driven largely by a broker note out of Ord Minnett. This morning the broker upgraded its shares to a buy rating with a $4.40 price target. It believes that BWP is undervalued based on its long weighted average lease expiry.

The G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM) share price has jumped 12% higher to $1.16. This morning the childcare centre operator revealed that the end of the free childcare scheme would not necessarily be a bad thing. The company notes that the revised government support packages are structured in a way that means G8 expects to be in no worse a position relative to the prior support measures. This is even if occupancy levels were to deteriorate.

The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price has stormed a further 6% higher to $19.97. Investors have continued to pile into the banking sector again on Tuesday on the belief that they have been oversold. All the big four banks are trading notably higher at the time of writing and are helping drive the ASX 200 higher.

More reading

• ASX 200 jumps 2.5%: Big four banks surge higher, CSL announces an acquisition
• 3 ASX 200 shares to watch this week
• G8 Education share price jumps higher despite the government ending its free childcare scheme
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX bulls crash through 6,000 points
• ‘Westpac share price undervalued’, says analyst

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of Westpac Banking. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. 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 returned from the long weekend in fine form. In late morning trade the benchmark index is up over 2.5% to 6,150.9 points.

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

The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price is down 2.5% to $277.77. This appears to be down to concerns that the company’s plasma collection network has been disrupted by the pandemic. This could have a knock-on effect on its FY 2021 performance. These concerns have offset an announcement that reveals that CSL has agreed to acquire biotech company Vitaeris this morning.

The Elders Ltd (ASX: ELD) share price has fallen over 3% to $9.22. This decline could be down to profit taking after a strong share price gain year to date. Prior to today, the agribusiness company’s shares were up over 47% since the start of the year. Investors have been buying agriculture shares due to improving trading conditions and their defensive qualities.

The Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) share price is down 3% to $5.43. The catalyst for this decline was a sharp pullback in the gold price on Friday night. And although the precious metal rebounded last night, it wasn’t enough to stop the gold miners from being sold off today. Especially with investors switching to risk on assets en masse today. The S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold index is down 1.75% on Monday.

The Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price has fallen almost 3% to $85.05. Investors may be taking profit off the table after some strong gains by the business and accounting platform provider’s shares in recent weeks. In fact, last week the Xero share price climbed to a record high of $91.49. When its shares hit that level, they were up 15% year to date.

More reading

• 2 ASX 200 biotech shares to consider buying today
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX bulls crash through 6,000 points
• ASX shares could be the best way to grow your wealth in 2020
• Could these ASX shares be the future dividend stars that make you rich?
• 10 ASX 200 shares that are fit for the Queen

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd. and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Elders Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. 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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There are a couple of ASX 200 biotech shares that could be in the buy zone right now. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down -10.25% this year but many Aussie healthcare companies have surged in value.

This is partly due to the nature of the coronavirus pandemic. Many healthcare services are in high demand even as the economy falls on hard times.

While not all Aussie biotech companies are created equal, here are a couple of my top picks to buy today.

2 ASX 200 biotech shares to buy today

I like the look of CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) right now. CSL is one of the largest companies by market capitalisation on the ASX and weighs in at $129.55 billion.

The ASX 200 biotech share doesn’t always look like good value. However, CSL shares have dropped below the $300 per share mark and are trading at $276.45 at the time of writing.

We’ve seen some strong investor support around the $270-280 per share mark in recent months. That could mean now is a good chance to buy CSL at a 16.75% discount to its all-time high.

It’s not just the Aussie biotech giant that is in the buy zone. I also like the look of Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) shares right now.

Polynovo designs develops and manufactures dermal regeneration solutions using its patented NovoSorb BTM biodegradable polymer technology.

In plain English, the ASX 200 biotech share develops solutions for burns, skin grafts and similar medical issues.

The Polynovo share price crashed hard in the recent bear market. In fact, shares in the company fell 56.29% from 25 February to 23 March. 

However, Polynovo’s value has surged higher in recent months. The ASX 200 biotech share boasts a market capitalisation of $1.75 billion and has climbed 94.70% since that March 23 bottom.

Foolish takeaway

I think for buy and hold investors, both CSL and Polynovo could be good value buys.

Both ASX 200 biotech shares have a track record of success and a solid growth outlook.

I would say CSL is more of a tactical buy for $285.33 per share. In contrast, the Polynovo share price has already rebounded but I think it’s a potential ASX 50 share in the coming decade.

More reading

• Why CSL, Elders, Evolution, & Xero shares are dropping lower
• 3 ASX 200 shares to watch this week
• Is the Webjet share price a cheap buy today?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX bulls crash through 6,000 points
• Cheap ASX 200 retail shares to buy today

Ken Hall has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. 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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