S&P/ASX 200 breaks through 6000 after retail sales surge 16.3% in May

S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) broke through the 6000 level after preliminary ABS figures showed retail spending surged 16.3% in May - the sharpest increase in the 38 years the figure has been measured. The index was trading at 5997, up 1.03% at 12.37 pm with most sectors in the green except materials. State-based cyber attack Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said today that Australia is under increasing cyberattack from a “sophisticated state-based cyber actor". Morrison would not name the state, and he said he made the growing threat public to raise awareness. He added "This activity is targeting Australian organisations across a range of sectors, including all levels of government, industry, political organizations, education, health, essential service providers and operators of other critical infrastructure. “Although the threat was constant, the frequency of attacks had increased over many months.” He threw in some hints by adding "This is the actions of a state-based actor with significant capabilities. There aren’t too many state-based actors who have those capabilities.” “Hall of mirrors” Globally, investor focus on Friday will be on developments surrounding the resurgence of COVID-19 in some regions, with four states in the US reporting record spikes in cases. Meanwhile, a Chinese health expert said Thursday that a recent virus outbreak in Beijing is “under control”. The Chinese capital saw a surge in infections after more than 50 days without domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases. Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank, wrote in a note: “Despite an unrelenting climb in COVID infections across (Latin America), South Asia and second wave risks hanging over US and China, global markets have regained traction; optimism even. “Simply put, markets view pandemic risks as passé, relegating them to the backseat (and rear-view mirror) as they look for an upturn ahead. “Markets’ resilience is best explained by the ‘hall of mirrors’ belief; where bets are that the Fed be cornered into easing effusively for the fear of disappointing markets.” Top gainers Top gainers on the ASX today include Cardinal Resources Ltd (ASX:CDV) (+27.31%), Artemis Resources Ltd (ASX:ARV) (+11.90%), Ironbark Zinc Limited (ASX:IBG) (+11.11%) and Fe Limited (ASX:FEL) (+15.38%). Proactive news headlines: Chase Mining's strongly supported share purchase plan results in scale-back Chase Mining Corporation Ltd (ASX:CML) has raised $750,000 through its share purchase plan with the strong interest received requiring applications to be scaled back. Eligible shareholders were entitled to be issued up to $30,000 worth of shares in the company at the SPP issue price of 1.25 cents per share. Australian Mines completes cobalt and nickel offtake sample production runs from Sconi ore Australian Mines Limited (ASX:AUZ) (OTCMKTS:AMSLF) (FRA:MJH) has completed demonstration plant production runs to supply battery-grade cobalt sulphate and nickel sulphate to potential offtake partners. These runs at the plant in Perth processed ore from the company’s Sconi Cobalt-Nickel-Scandium Project in North Queensland to create high purity on-spec nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate crystals. These samples will now also be tested by each of the individual potential offtake partners. Predictive Discovery strengthens Guinea gold position with grant of Saman exploration permit Predictive Discovery Ltd (ASX:PDI) has been granted an exploration permit over the Saman Gold Project, strengthening its land position in Guinea’s Siguiri Basin. The new permit is adjacent to Predictive’s Kaninko permit and may contain a possible northern extension to the northern-most mineralised power auger hole in the NE Bankan gold mineralised zone, which returned 16 metres at 6.82 g/t gold. Strategic Elements autonomous security vehicle collaboration draws strong attention Strategic Elements Ltd (ASX:SOR) subsidiary Stealth Technologies is attracting strong attention globally as it collaborates with US Fortune 100 company Honeywell International Inc (NYSE:HON) (LON:HON) to create a fully autonomous security vehicle (ASV) for Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison in Western Australia. The breakthrough partnership is well advanced with the ASV and this week representatives of Stealth, Honeywell Building Technologies (HBT) and the WA Department of Justice made a presentation to a global Honeywell Virtual Technology Conference. Cardinal Resources fields cash takeover offer from Shandong Gold at A$0.60 per share Cardinal Resources Ltd (ASX:CDV) has received a cash takeover offer from Shandong Gold Mining Co Ltd (HKG:1787) at A$0.60 per share, which represents a 75.5% premium to its 20-day unaffected volume-weighted average price. The bid implementation agreement (BIA) has sparked a 29% surge in Cardinal's shares in early trading to a new 12-month high of 60 cents.