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ASX Large Caps: ASX rebounds 0.26% in final 2022 session, ‘Sweet Baby Jeebus, it’s a post-Christmas miracle’
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- ASX rebounds on last trading day of 2022, up 0.26% following Wall Street higher
- After tough economic conditions, ASX ends 2022 down 6.32%
- Link tumbles after trading for first time without shareholders entitled to PEXA shares
The Australian sharemarket has rebounded in its final session of 2022, snapping its losing streak in what has been a bleak short week between Christmas and New Year .
Stockhead’s Gregor Stronach best describes today’s session – “Sweet Baby Jeebus, it’s a post-Christmas miracle!”
The Aussie bourse opened 0.6% higher and while losing ground throughout the day did all it can to finish its final session of a tough year for investors in the green.
The ASX tracked Wall Street higher, which was buoyed by US unemployment data signalling the Fed’s interest rate hikes might actually be slowing the country’s strong labour market.
The S&P 500 gained 1.7%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 2.59%, while the Dow Jones rose 1.05%.
The UK’s FTSE 100 closed up 0.21%, while the FTSE 250 was 0.59% higher. In the EU, the DAX rose 1.05% and the Euro Stoxx gained 1.08%.
All 11 ASX sectors were in the green, except real estate which fell 0.69%. Leading the gainers was the IT sector up 1.49%. Yesterday’s biggest laggard energy, recouped some losses and was up 0.89% followed by yesterday’s only winning sector healthcare up 0.73%.
In the Asia-Pacific region today, the CSI 300 led the gainers, rising 0.57%. The Heng Seng was up 0.44% in afternoon trade.
In Japan, the Nikkei was up 0.18%, while the Topix put on 0.037% in the afternoon session. South Korea however, remained in the red with the Kospi down 1.93%
But back at home 2022 remains a sobering year, plagued by geopolitical tensions, rising inflation and interest rates along with ongoing fallout from the covid-19 pandemic.
Official figures from the ASX show the S&P/ASX 200 has lost 6.32% over the last 52 weeks.
BIG CAP WINNERS
Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort.
| Code | Company | Price | % | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRN | Brainchip Ltd | 0.75 | 13% | 12,579,345 | $1,148,363,326 |
| SYA | Sayona Mining Ltd | 0.195 | 8% | 34,171,336 | $1,563,433,562 |
| LKE | Lake Resources | 0.805 | 7% | 6,353,054 | $1,050,694,775 |
| CXO | Core Lithium | 1.035 | 6% | 17,331,722 | $1,795,798,409 |
| CGC | Costa Group Holdings | 2.73 | 5% | 1,492,905 | $1,207,820,812 |
| LTR | Liontown Resources | 1.325 | 5% | 15,208,463 | $2,778,490,718 |
| SQ2 | Block | 91.94 | 4% | 85,722 | $2,847,611,159 |
| PNV | Polynovo Limited | 2.04 | 4% | 370,322 | $1,348,487,454 |
| TLX | Telix Pharmaceutical | 7.29 | 4% | 634,912 | $2,217,259,733 |
| JDO | Judo Cap Holdings | 1.34 | 4% | 149,320 | $1,426,120,635 |
The Best of the large caps is AI company Brainchip (ASX:BRN). While there was no official announcements from BRN there have been media reports it will join its partners Prophesee, Socionext, and VVDN at global tech event CES to showcase solutions on constrained edge devices, featuring its trademarked Akida processors.
Lithium stocks were among today’s biggest winners. Sayona Mining (ASX:SYA) was up with the lithium miner on target for recommencement of production at its flagship North American Lithium (NAL) operation in Q1 2023. Core Lithium (ASX:CXO), Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) also rallied today.
BIG CAP LOSERS
Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort.
| Code | Company | Price | % | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LNK | Link Administration Holdings | $1.95 | 40% | 3.307,420 | $1,018,280,150 |
| MCY | Mercury NZ Limited | 5.13 | -3% | 6,371 | $7,345,842,199 |
| IFT | Infratil Limited | 7.87 | -3% | 1,664 | $5,885,986,522 |
| CEN | Contact Energy Ltd | 7.25 | -2% | 853 | $1,847,370,286 |
| BGL | Bellevue Gold Ltd | 1.135 | -2% | 2,645,727 | $1,275,894,095 |
| PSI | Psc Insurance Ltd | 5.02 | -2% | 5,428 | $1,806,127,291 |
| EBO | Ebos Group Ltd | 40.92 | -2% | 3,862 | $7,924,813,138 |
| AIA | Auckland Internation | 7.4 | -1% | 700,344 | $11,058,859,039 |
| AIZ | Air New Zealand | 0.685 | -1% | 485,080 | $2,341,082,699 |
| A2M | The A2 Milk Company | 6.87 | -1% | 1,155,634 | $5,103,788,365 |
| NST | Northern Star | 10.95 | -1% | 1,752,275 | $12,833,419,650 |
| WPR | Waypoint REIT | 2.76 | -1% | 632,948 | $1,874,368,166 |
| EVN | Evolution Mining Ltd | 2.99 | -1% | 5,823,543 | $5,541,749,283 |
| SPK | Spark New Zealand | 5.02 | -1% | 388,441 | $9,496,941,556 |
| RRL | Regis Resources | 2.05 | -1% | 496,267 | $1,562,903,665 |
| PRU | Perseus Mining Ltd | 2.11 | -1% | 1,056,437 | $2,912,696,431 |
The clear biggest large cap loser on the last trading day of 2022 was financial software and services provider Link Administration Holdings (ASX:LNK) , which dropped 40% after it traded for the first time without shareholders being entitled to one PEXA (ASX:PXA) share for every 7.52 LNK shares.
Earlier in the day, LNK was down as much as 45%. In Novemenber, LNK announced would sell 10% of its existing 42.77% shareholding in the property settlements platform, generating total net proceeds of more than $100 million, which will be used to repay its borrowings.
At the same time, management revealed that it would distribute its remaining PEXA shares to LNK shareholders via an in-specie distribution. The plan was approved earlier this month with the distribution due to take place in January.
It still has not been a good year for LNK, which has seen its share price fall ~65% year to date, while the PEXA price is down 41% for the same period.
Disclosure: The author held shares in Link Administration Holdings at the time of writing this article.
