Let’s not talk about Covid… If you’re anything like me over the last month or so your eyes have been happily glued to the screens as the cream of Australia’s athletic crop have admirably represented the green and gold in Tokyo.

The valiant efforts of our Olympians saw Australia take 6th place on a medal tally and our Paralympians aren’t far behind, ranked 8th all up with a truly impressive haul of 80 medals.

But while we’re cheering on our competitors in Tokyo, I’d like to take a moment to recognise the achievements of our local fund managers, too. 

More than 50% of Australian equity fund managers – both in the general equities and mid/small cap spaces – have managed to beat out their respective indexes in the June half this year.

International equity fund managers had a somewhat rougher ride, with 68.9% underperforming their index in the same period.

The ASX 200, meanwhile, closed more or less flat yesterday, after dropping early in trading only to climb back later in the day to end the session 1.8 points (0.02%) up.

Iron ore miners proved something of a weight on the market, and the banks delivered a mixed result. Meanwhile the RBA kept rates flat and flagged a further reduction in their bond-buying program, down to $4 billion a week instead of $5 billion.

With the market consolidating around the 7500 level for the past 3 weeks, we will be watching for a potential bounce off the 50 DMA in the coming days. Resistance is strong at 7530, however if the market can break through this level it could hit new all-time highs over the coming days.

Yesterday also saw the Emerging Companies index (ASX: XEC) eke out a 0.56% gain, while the Small Ordinaries (ASX: XSO) lifted 0.13%.

Chalice Mining Group (ASX: CHN) was one of the bigger gainers on Tuesday, lifting 6.34%. Closely following was Flight Centre Group (ASX: FLT), up 6.22%

Food delivery service Marley Spoon (ASX: MMM), meanwhile, grabbed headlines for all the wrong reasons. The company’s share price plummeted 10.34% after Woolworths sold its stake in the company for $54 million.

Despite selling its stake, and forcing Marley Spoon’s share price to its lowest level in 12 months, Woolworths says it remains committed to its five year ‘strategic alliance’ with the company. 

It’s certainly some food for remaining investors’ thoughts.

We have launched a new structured product with a focus on maximising return on equity as well as diversifying to hedge against market uncertainty. By utilising an algorithm to rebalance its index daily, this multi-asset product tracks and invests in three asset classes across multiple geographic regions to deliver greater diversity to an investment portfolio along with a high probability of good equity returns. Click here to request the PDS.