ASX Large Caps: ASX gains 0.5% off the back of solid resources sector rebound

The ASX up 0.53% with 8 out of 11 sectors in the green
Low Aussie dollar is lifting petrol prices which rose by 11.1 cents last week
CBA says the world oil prices continues to be a key influence on global inflation

The ASX 200 finished up today – just – gaining 0.53% on lower than normal volume.

Out of 11 sector 8 out were higher, led by Materials which rallied by 3.52%.

Mining stocks making gains included Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) up 5.59%, BHP (ASX:BHP) up 4.72% and Fortescue Metals (ASX:FMG) which jumped 4.25%.

Sectors in the red were real estate -0.12%, financials -1.43% and IT – 2.17%, with Wise Tech Global (ASX:WST) dropping 5.78% and Westpac (ASX:WBC) down 3.94%.

The CBA says that the low Aussie dollar is lifting petrol prices, and according to the Australian Institute of Petroleum, last week the average Australian pump price for unleaded petrol rose by 11.1 cents a litre to a 16-week high of 195.9 cents a litre.

“The lower Aussie dollar boosted pump prices by 4 cents a litre last week and it has driven up pump prices by 13 cents a litre since the start of 2022,” CBA chief economist Craig Jones said.

“The stronger greenback continues to make US dollar denominated commodities more expensive for buyers in Europe and Asia and that includes Aussie motorists.

“In Australian dollar terms Singapore gasoline has lifted from 80c to 103 cents a litre over 2022 but would now be 90 cents a litre had the Aussie dollar held at US72.56 cents.”

What it really boils down to is that the world oil price – which rose by 5% on Friday – continues to be a key influence on global inflation.

“Monitoring price trends will be important in how investment markets fare over the coming weeks and months,” Jones said.

“The Energy sector remains supported by high prices for oil and natural gas.”

BIG CAP WINNERS

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Code	Company	Price	%	Volume	Market Cap
ARU	Arafura Rare Earths	0.35	15%	19,635,755	$526,870,722
A11	Atlantic Lithium	0.965	13%	2,562,611	$517,909,119
CMM	Capricorn Metals	3.86	10%	1,072,321	$1,308,738,148
LKE	Lake Resources	1.17	9%	21,416,558	$1,495,216,112
GOR	Gold Road Res Ltd	1.41	7%	4,898,147	$1,414,850,972
RMS	Ramelius Resources	0.8075	7%	6,001,579	$658,583,699
ADT	Adriatic Metals	2.77	7%	546,655	$553,235,637
EVN	Evolution Mining Ltd	2.145	7%	13,449,712	$3,688,177,411
29M	29Metalslimited	2.175	7%	767,665	$981,966,442
SFR	Sandfire Resources	3.865	6%	3,552,767	$1,488,959,237
WAF	West African Res Ltd	1.075	6%	1,435,049	$1,031,596,369
DEG	De Grey Mining	1.115	6%	4,365,103	$1,617,835,711
DMP	Domino Pizza Enterpr	57.7	6%	351,257	$4,704,564,549
MCR	Mincor Resources NL	1.51	6%	1,300,551	$695,696,466

The biggest winner of the big guns today was Arafura Rare Earths (ASX:ARU) who signed a neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) offtake agreement with car makers Hyundai and Kia.

NdPr are the key raw materials in ultra-strong permanent magnets and are essential to electronics, technology and automotive industries.

The company will supply 600 tonnes per annum (tpa) in year one, increasing to 1,500 tpa in years four to seven to align with ramp up of the Nolans rare earths project in the NT.

Supply of NdPr is currently anticipated to commence in calendar year 2025 subject to project financing, completion of construction and development and commissioning of the Project.

And Capricorn Metals (ASX:CMM) was also up, after expanding its Mt Gibson Mineral Resource – again – this time to 2.8 million ounces of gold.

The company says the updated MRE includes 2,106,000 ounces in the Indicated category, “providing a very strong basis for the maiden Ore Reserve Estimate targeted for later in the current quarter.”

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Code	Company	Price	%	Volume	Market Cap
ECX	Eclipx Group Ltd	1.7525	-7%	1,735,827	$537,403,488
CRN	Coronado Global Res	2.13	-6%	6,806,312	$3,805,549,967
WTC	Wisetech Global Ltd	54.86	-5%	256,640	$18,954,819,523
QAL	Qualitaslimited	2.36	-5%	34,503	$732,060,000
IMU	Imugene Limited	0.19	-5%	15,986,900	$1,267,418,928
ALU	Altium Limited	34.21	-5%	193,848	$4,723,297,486
ANZ	ANZ Banking Grp Ltd	24.34	-5%	7,757,517	$76,243,055,651
REG	Regis Healthcare Ltd	1.92	-4%	56,515	$604,825,329
RBD	Restaurant Brands NZ	6.51	-4%	695	$849,605,542
EVT	EVT Limited	13.88	-4%	88,141	$2,331,185,395
WBC	Westpac Banking Corp	23.19	-4%	11,053,003	$84,517,222,533
PBH	Pointsbet Holdings	1.955	-4%	1,108,716	$620,528,920
STA	Strandline Res Ltd	0.415	-3%	1,516,311	$537,882,126
SIG	Sigma Health Ltd	0.6	-3%	1,553,545	$656,751,378