- Mining stocks rally
- Australia job vacancies balloon to 6.9%
- Lithium stocks keep surging
A rally in mining stocks wasn’t enough to push the ASX to an eighth consecutive day of gains.
The benchmark index closed 0.2% lower today, and for March it’s up by almost 6 % and inching towards all-time highs.
The Mining sector, which makes up one fifth of the benchmark index, rallied by 1.5% as giant miners like BHP (ASX:BHP) and Rio (ASX:RIO) climbed.
This comes as iron ore and other commodities continue to rise amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The war is raging on despite Russia’s promise on Tuesday to de-escalate activities in major cities including Kyiv.
The Australian Border Force has today slapped tariffs on Russian and Belarusian goods – of up to 35%, – in response to Russia’s invasion.
Meanwhile, Australia is in dire need of workers as job vacancies jumped to 6.9% in the three months to February. Vacancies are at 86% higher than what they were prior to Covid, raising more concerns around inflation.
Tech stocks erased most of yesterday’s gains after falling by almost 2% today.
BIG CAP WINNERS
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| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INR | Ioneer Ltd | 0.69 | 20.00% | 21,591,412 | $1,202,065,329 |
| NVX | Novonix Limited | 6.15 | 8.85% | 3,641,639 | $2,745,130,860 |
| CXO | Core Lithium | 1.365 | 7.91% | 36,921,481 | $2,169,553,705 |
| CIA | Champion Iron Ltd | 7.8 | 5.83% | 1,665,105 | $3,807,429,526 |
| SYR | Syrah Resources | 1.6225 | 5.02% | 3,578,801 | $1,033,808,201 |
| TPG | TPG Telecom Limited | 6.06 | 4.48% | 1,300,410 | $10,784,181,680 |
| DBI | Dalrymple Bay | 2.135 | 4.15% | 366,338 | $1,016,311,417 |
| FMG | Fortescue Metals Grp | 20.62 | 4.14% | 9,936,423 | $60,963,505,376 |
| MIN | Mineral Resources. | 52.56 | 4.06% | 877,608 | $9,538,824,158 |
| FFX | Firefinch Ltd | 1.035 | 4.02% | 10,612,335 | $1,172,245,519 |
| ILU | Iluka Resources | 11.325 | 3.80% | 2,187,541 | $4,625,101,851 |
| VUL | Vulcan Energy | 10.12 | 3.79% | 490,808 | $1,283,539,628 |
| PPH | Pushpay Holdings Ltd | 1.0525 | 3.69% | 521,565 | $1,157,950,224 |
| TAH | TABCORP Holdings | 5.38 | 3.26% | 5,149,746 | $11,596,270,573 |
| ZIM | Zimplats Holding Ltd | 28 | 3.09% | 6,499 | $2,923,438,547 |
| LKE | Lake Resources | 2 | 2.83% | 13,662,671 | $2,476,911,376 |
The raging hot lithium sector keep surging after media reports the US government could be investing more in Australia’s critical mineral projects.
ionner (ASX:INR) was one of the best performers today, up by 17%, on no specific news.
Core Lithium (ASX:CXO), another lithium play, jumped 8% after announcing positive drilling update from the Finniss Lithium Project near Darwin.
BIG CAP LOSERS
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| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AIZ | Air New Zealand | 1.195 | -7% | 8,414,384 | $1,437,240,611 |
| HVN | Harvey Norman | 5.35 | -6% | 3,316,171 | $7,114,697,994 |
| REH | Reece Limited | 19.07 | -5% | 312,991 | $12,926,143,462 |
| XRO | Xero Ltd | 102.69 | -5% | 509,672 | $16,048,479,042 |
| ABB | Aussie Broadband | 5.33 | -4% | 781,012 | $1,325,937,261 |
| SDR | Siteminder | 4.51 | -4% | 166,604 | $1,280,148,360 |
| SQ2 | Block | 186.46 | -4% | 180,811 | $9,456,958,194 |
| Z1P | Zip Co Ltd. | 1.475 | -4% | 13,247,467 | $1,027,000,659 |
| PMV | Premier Investments | 27.605 | -4% | 180,707 | $4,559,920,272 |
| JHX | James Hardie Indust | 40.58 | -4% | 2,382,629 | $18,749,190,079 |
| IFT | Infratil Limited | 7.49 | -4% | 26,104 | $5,634,604,894 |
| TLX | Telix Pharmaceutical | 4.14 | -3% | 812,484 | $1,339,532,766 |
| NAN | Nanosonics Limited | 3.93 | -3% | 487,425 | $1,228,461,051 |
Air New Zealand (ASX:AIZ) dropped 6% after coming out of a trading halt. The airline is is launching a NZ$2.2 billion recapitalisation package to help position the airline for recovery. It includes NZ$1.2 billion in pro rata renounceable rights offer to shareholder.