US sharemarkets rose to fresh record highs on Monday, but investors were cautious ahead of the start of the corporate earnings season. Citigroup (-0.1%) reported a better-than-expected profit, kicking off earnings for major US lenders. But Citi also reported a decline in interest margins, which weighed on shares of JPMorgan (-1.2%) and Goldman Sachs (-1.1%). Boeing shares fell by 1.0% on a report that the 737 Max jet may stay grounded until early 2020. Symantec shares fell by 10.7% and was the top loser on the S&P500 index after a report that the cybersecurity company and Broadcom (+1.0%) have ceased deal talks. The Dow Jones closed up by 27 points or 0.1%. The S&P500 was flat and the Nasdaq rose by 14 points or 0.2%.

Global oil prices fell on Monday as major US producers Exxon Mobil and Chevron began re-staffing offshore oil platforms in the US Gulf of Mexico as Tropical Storm Barry moved inland. Offshore oil producers restarted 4% of the production last week, according to the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement on Monday. The Brent crude price fell by US24 cents or 0.4% to US$66.48 a barrel. The US Nymex price fell by US63 cents or 1.0% to US$59.58 a barrel. 

Base metal prices were mostly higher on the London Metal Exchange (LME) on Monday. Nickel (+1.4%), aluminium (+1.2%) and copper (+0.8%) all rose. But tin was down 1.8%. 

The gold futures price rose by US$1.30 an ounce or 0.1% to US$1,413.50 an ounce. The spot gold price was trading near US$1,415 an ounce in late US trade. Iron ore rose by US$2.85 or 2.4% to US$121.40 a tonne after China's daily average steel production hit a record 2.92 million tonnes a day in June.

Monday 15 July - close. AMP led the sharemarket lower on Monday after the embattled financial services group announced that the sale of its life insurance business was unlikely to proceed. The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 43.5 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 6653.0, while the broader All Ordinaries lost 42.6 points, or 0.6 per cent, to end the session at 6746.2. The key market mover was AMP, which received word from the potential buyer of its life insurance business, New-Zealand-based Resolution Life, that the transaction was highly unlikely to go ahead after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand imposed conditions on the sale.

Cassini Resources Limited: (CZI.ASX, 9.3cps, m.cap A$38.6m with 415.5 SOI, Cash $11.3m, Base Metals Explorer)

• Cassini has provided an update on exploration activities at its 100%-owned Mount Squires Project in the Musgrave Province of Western Australia. MSP is an early stage exploration project, highly prospective for gold, located adjacent to the Company’s West Musgrave Project (CZI 30% JV with OZ Minerals).
• An aeromagnetic survey is due to commence late this month. The survey will provide high-resolution magnetic coverage over key gold and base metal target areas for the first time. The total survey area is approximately 440km2 , comprising over half the Mount Squires Project area and covering all of the priority targets (Figure 1).
• Previous drilling at the Handpump Prospect returned significant gold intercepts including 15m @ 2.30g/t from only 31m down hole (refer ASX announcement 14 July 2016). Previous drilling has been limited to only a handful of holes and the geology is poorly understood. A new geological interpretation suggests mineralisation is controlled by two intersecting faults creating a westerly to north-westerly plunging mineralised breccia. Mineralisation appears open in the down-plunge position and this zone will be drill tested. All necessary approvals are in place and ground preparation complete in preparation for a short, but targeted RC drill program, with a drill rig scheduled to be on-site by mid-August.
• Approximately 4,000 surface geochemical samples have been collected over the Project area by previous operators. Coverage across the Project is uneven and comprises several sample mediums. Much of the area sampled is overlain by transported cover and surface sampling is likely to be ineffective in those areas. The Company has engaged a geochemical consultant to assist with normalising the data so that samples can be compared on a like-for-like basis and assist with anomaly identification and further surface geochemical surveys. Initial analysis of previous work shows the most prominent geochemical anomaly is at the Centrifical Prospect with a zoned Mo-Pb-Zn anomaly at the intersection of prominent northwest and northeast striking structures (Figure 2).
• Cassini Managing Director Richard Bevan commented, “We’re delighted to begin on-ground exploration activities at Mount Squires. We’ve got an immediate target to drill at the Handpump Prospect but also recognise numerous other early-stage and conceptual targets that demand further geophysical and geochemical data collection and analysis prior to drilling. There are extensive areas under cover that have not been previously explored. We expect to generate a pipeline of prospects for testing. It’s also worth recognising our activities coincide with near record-high Australian Dollar gold prices and a dearth of early-stage, regional-scale Australian gold exploration projects. This is a good strategic fit with the development studies and exploration at our West Musgrave Joint Venture.”
• A link to the full announcement can be found here
• Please contact your adviser or the desk on +61 8 6169 2668 should you wish to discuss further.

Moxico Resources Plc - Zambian Bonds Gain as Ng’andu Takes Over as Finance Minister (Positive)

• New Zambia Finance Minister Bwalya Ng’andu sworn in, replaces Margaret Mwanakatwe who was fired from her post and the one responsible for the Zambia sales tax.

• “He comes from a banking setup, so he understands a lot more about the actual realities of the Zambian economy,” said Chibamba Kanyama, a Lusaka-based independent economist. “He is not a politician and by virtue of him not being a politician, I am sure he will rein in colleagues. I am very sure that he will be able to succeed if he focuses on the fiscal macro economic stabilization and also and do away with sales tax.”

• “We are very encouraged by the appointment of the new finance minister, who is a technocrat,” Barrick Gold Corp. Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow told reporters in Lusaka on Monday.